


This Is Our Life Now, Apparently

by TheGodWith5Yen



Series: Introducing the Next Generation [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Blue Beetle (Comics), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Green Lantern - All Media Types, Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: (haha pun intended), 90s Kon, Bart is impulsive and a lot of trouble, Bart is like 13/14, Cait is killer frost, F/M, Gen, Hal is hella bi, I'm thinking of having tim drake cause??, Internalized Homophobia, Kon is a bi boy, Kon-el is adjusting to life, M/M, Prolly the first of a series cause I also have some other ideas but I don't want to have it yet, This is basically what I want with dctv, bart doesn't get the past, bart is pan, cant have bart and Kon without tim, felicity is evil too lol, in the comics Jaime was gone for a year, in this it was about ten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 18:12:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10496712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGodWith5Yen/pseuds/TheGodWith5Yen
Summary: There are three things Hal Jordan, Bart Allen, Kon-el, and Jaime Reyes have in common:1) they have returned to unfamiliar places and are trying to fit in with it all,2) they all have the power to become superheroes, and3) they are all undeniably cute





	1. In One Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal is lost (not literally, he's just thinking in a Big Belly Burger). Bart is on a super secret mission. Kon-el meets his kind-of fathers cousin. Jaime reunites with his family.

**Coast City, California**

Hal Jordan tapped his fingers against the glass in front of him. There was perspiration forming on the sides of the glass that made his fingertips wet. 

This was sort of pathetic. 

How long has he been sitting here, in some random Big Belly Burger in Coast City, trying to think of some way to face the world again? Hal couldn't believe he spent four ways away. It didn't feel that long ago. 

Space was much too different than here. Here. Here is home. It should be. It didn't quite feel like it. 

Carol was different. Coast City was different. Technology was different. Goddamned Big Belly Burger was different, what the fuck wasn't with those new items on the menu? 

Hal sighed through his nose, downed the rest of the soda in his glass, and stared at the television mounted near the table he was sitting at. 

The audio was too low to hear, but Hal could read the subtitles just fine. 

_Fugitive Felicity Smoak has broken out of Iron Heights Prison. She could be anywhere in the States. Please contact your local authorities if you happen to see her. Please remember that she is a highly dangerous fugitive._

The screen split to show pictures of a pretty blonde woman. In one photo, her blonde hair was slicked back in a perfect ponytail and she wore thick black glasses. In the second photo, her hair was down and she was wearing a red dress. She didn't look like a fugitive. She looked like a young librarian, or someone who worked in Queen Consolidated as a secretary. 

The screen went back to the reporter, who began talking about something called The Flash. Hal read the screen, having to hold in literal fucking giggles as he realized what The Flash was. Holy shit. Holy hell. 

Damn, the world was crazy. Who knew nearly five years could change so much? 

Hal felt a pang of... what could only be described as home sickness. Space was so much easier. Space was much more familiar than this new world where men could run hella fast and Carol Ferris wanted to move past Hal Jordan. Space had been odd at first, but he never thought his planet would become as almost as odd. 

 

**Central City, Missouri**

What was that? It looked like some sort of. Of stretchy pink glue that Bart wanted to put in his mouth because the pink was enticing and who even cares if it's glue his body's system would just make him unsick, not sick?, in a matter of like milliseconds. 

With a totally inconspicuous looksies around, Bart moved. That is what he does best. Move. He can move so fast, the whole world seems to be stopped and it's all just him him him free from everything except the speed force that allowed him to move that fast. Bart simply walked through the glass that separated him from the shop. 

The stretchy glue stuff was sticky, well duh, and made his fingers feel ew gross, but whatever. Bart licked it, deemed it possibly edible if its sweet taste meant anything, and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. It was a lot, a lot to chew. But Bart did anyways. He glanced at the little sign below where the stretchy sticky edible stuff was. 

"T-A-F-F-Y." He read the capital letters out loud, enunciating each letter with exaggerated movements of his mouth. What could that stand for? Totally Awesome Fucking Flavor Yums? Take A Few For You? Who knows. It was really good. Bart liked TAFFY quite a lot. 

Still chewing the sticky TAFFY, Bart skipped out of the shop and ran towards where he wanted to go before getting distracted. 

S.T.A.R. Laboratories, that was were his grandfather was. That's where Bart needs to go. He needs to find The Flash and do what he came for, a very very very important mission only he could accomplish with Grandpa Barry. A mission to-

To what again? He'll remember, it's all fine, Bart will remember. He always does once he moves moves moves and everything rushes back to his memory. Not only does he move fast, but he thinks fast too. A normal person could blink and kapow! Bart had like a thousand thoughts already through his head. 

S.T.A.R. Labs was run down, probably still not fixed since the explosion that created the first wave of metas. Wow Grandpa Barry, can't even invest in your own building? Maybe Bart can- no no no not right now no distractions. This is mission time. Time to see Grandpa Barry. 

Bart slowed his body down to match the average, very  _slow,_ pace of the average human as he skidded in front of the broken building. 

Would he see Grandma Iris? Vibe? Uncle Wally? Was this when Captain Cold was part of the team? Bart scrunched his forehead. No proably not. Maybe. Bart'll just have to go in and see. 

Bart straightened the blue jean jacket he took from that trash bin thing overflowing with jackets and shirts. It looked pretty good with his red and white suit. He blew out a breath, set his goggles onto the top of his head, and strolled inside S.T.A.R. Labs. It was surprisingly easy for a young teenage boy to just walk in. They should really work on their security.

The elevator was slow, but Bart didn't want to just barge in. He had a bit of class, thank you very much. The elevator led into a hallway. Bart could hear people talking in a room that the hallway lead up to. Bart took five quick, speedster breaths, decided fuck it, and walked right into the room. 

They didn't notice him at first. Bart spent less than a second studying them. Grandpa Barry was in The Flash suit, hands on hips, face serious. Next to him could only be Grandma Iris, arms crossed, hair impeccable. There was also Uncle Wally in the yellow Kid Flash suit. Vibe, Cisco Ramon, was wearing a t-shirt that Bart didn't understand the meaning of. Jesse Quick was writing on a board, drawing big circles. Everyone was turned towards her. There was one more person in the room. A black man Bart could only guess was his great-grandfather. He'd seen a few photos of him, but never really paid attention.

Bart only ever looked at Grandpa Barry. Funny, the one person Bart felt the most connection to was the least Bart actually looked like. The only similarity between Bart and his grandfather were their hazel eyes.

Uncle Wally noticed him first. Huh. Took him long enough. How can someone not notice a black kid with bright orange hair wearing red, white, and blue? Uncle Wally stared at Bart like he had two heads or something before saying," Um. Hi there?" 

"Heya." Bart grinned and brought his hand up to give a small wave. The whole group of people just stared. Vibe's mouth was literally open in shock. 

Yeah, Bart totally had that effect that just wowed people. He basically radiated awesome. 

Grandpa Barry cleared his thoart. "Are you, uh, lost? How did you get in here? What's your name?" 

Huh. The Flash sure was slow on some things.

Bart fiddled with the buttons of the jean jacket. He needed to move or he would feel  _stuck_ which would totally suck. "No, not lost at all. You guys have like zero security measures which you should totally fix if you don't want randos walking on in. And I'm Bart. Bart Allen. Your grandson, duh." 

 

**National City, California (Earth-38)**

"Tell me again why I can't stay in Metropolis with you and Lois?" Kon-el practically whined out. He was pouting, he knew that, and had his hands stuffed deep in his jeans pockets as he slumped against the wall of a skyscraper. Okay, so maybe it wasn't 'practically' whining. He was totally whining.

Can you blame a guy?

Kon knew only a handful of people. Clark Kent, his kind-of father. Lex Luthor, his also kind-of father. Lois Lane, his first kind-of fathers girlfriend. That Batman man who gave Clark those papers that made Kon-el an official person in this world. That was it really. Four people. Kon-el knew four people in this world, and one was evil and the other was some weird man who dresses as a bat.

He knew four people in this world, and Clark was making Kon live with some weird aunt he never met.

"Kon," Clark said in that voice that made Kon feel like the young boy he was. "In Metropolis it's only me and Lois. Here, my cousin has a whole group of people that will help train and support you much more than I ever could."

That didn't mean Kon-el didn't feel like he was being shipped off; it was like he wasn't wanted, being placed in the care of random relatives until he reached an acceptable age to take care of himself.

Those papers that Batman brought said Kon was 'Conner Kent' and he was sixteen years old. He was 'born' on the day Clark found him in Cadmus. Kon knew that at eighteen, old adults like Clark didn't need to take care of the new adults like Kon. He had two years before they threw him into the world.

Kon didn't say a thing. He swallowed the rest of his whines and said in a brave voice," Let's meet that aunt of mine."

Clark smiled at the young boy. He placed a hand in his shoulder. It was downright fatherly. Kon's stomach did a somersault. He didn't understand the feeling, but it made him simultaneously smile and feel the gut wrenching worry that seemed to stay inside him since Clark helped him escape Cadmus.

"Want to walk in like a human, or fly like a Kryptonian?" Clark asked with a glint in his eyes.

Kon's mouth split into a wide grin as he met his kind-of fathers eyes. "Man, do you even have to ask?"

The two discretely walked into an alleyway where they then proceeded to discard of the clothes that they wore above their suits. Kon didn't have a proper suit like Superman did; his wore the white suit with the House of El crest that he had while in the Cadmus pod. Kon was basically born in that suit. Clark took their clothes, folded them neatly, and shoved them under his arm for safe keeping.

"Ready?" The older man asked with a grin.

Kon-el answered by bending his knees and jumping up. A sonic boom sounded and he was up in the air, giggling as he did somersaults in the air.

The sky was the best. Way better than the ground. Cadmus deprived him of what it was like to fly, to be near the real sun. Flying was perfect.

The tell tale sound of a sonic boom meant that Clark had pushed off the ground and was up in the sky to. Kon glanced over to where Superman was lazily floating, watching his younger clone version sort-of son of his fly like a maniac. He was in a current that made his red cape glow out.

"Where to?" Kon yelled over to Clark. He suddenly couldn't stop the smile from his face. Who cares if his sort-of father is making him live with some aunt? He had this moment and he was going to live with it.

Clark just gave the young Kryptonian clone a wink and flew past him. Kon followed.

The wind hit Kon's face like a soft blanket. His long black hair was blown back by the force. He flew loops around Clark until the reached a building that Clark flew right into like he owned the place. Kon floated just outside the building for a second, taking a breath in. He cocked his head to the side and listened to the voices inside the large building. There were a lot of people inside. It made Kon-el a bit anxious.

_Shake it off Kon, everything will be fine. This is where you're life will be now. Clark wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. He saved you._

Kon exhaled and followed the voice of his sort-of father. Clark was standing next to a young woman who wore a similar suit to his. A woman with short hair was there, and so were three men. Kon landed softly on the floor, shuffling next to Clark. He resisted the urge to grab his arm and hold on forever.

"Hi there!" The woman, Supergirl, grinned at him and held out her hand. "I'm Kara! You're- aunt, I guess. I mean, technically we're like what? Second cousins? Maybe? I don't know the whole family relations thing is a bit confusing. Uh- anyways! It's so great to meet you Kon-el! We've been so excited since Kal told us he wanted you to live with us here."

Kon shook her hand while trying to follow what she was saying. "Hi," he said dumbly.

"Oh! Um, this is my boyfriend, James." She pat the shoulder of the tall African-American man next to her. "This is my adoptive sister Alex Danvers."

The short haired woman shook his hand. A small smile was on her face as she said, "It's nice to meet you Kon-el."

Kon-el gave a shy nod and stepped a little behind Clark.

Kara shot him another kind smile. "This is Winn, our awesome tech support. And this is J'onn J'onzz, director of the DEO, which this place is by the way." The two men gave Kon similar greetings. Kara wrung her hands together before saying, "So, I was thinking you could stay here in the DEO. Or- if you want you can stay with me and James in our apartment. Really, it's your choice, whatever you feel comfortable with."

Kon-el frowned. "I want to stay with Clark and Lois." He glanced up at the older man. Clark stood still, face unreadable, hands on his hips in the famous Superman pose. 

Kara pursed her lips. "Excuse us for a minute, I need to speak to my cousin." She gave Clark a pointed look and the two walked off somewhere down the hall. 

" _So_ ," Winn said, clapping his hands together, "I saw those files from Clark and that Gotham vigilante. Gotta say, that man has some major skills. Do you want us to call you Conner or?"

"Just Kon is fine." He shrugged. He had to know what Kara and Clark were talking about. Kon tilted his head a bit and leaned against a desk. He spotted his clothes near a laptop. His clothes were Clark's- a blue button down and jeans. 

He stroked the shirts fabric as he listened to the conversation in the other room. 

"-dump him here because you're scared of responsibility Kal-el." Kara's voice was sharp and shaking slightly. It was unmistakable. Kon had heard this tone before from Lex. Anger. She was angry. Kon wanted to collapse inside himself to escape the anger. 

"Kara, you don't understand the pressures-" 

"I do. I do understand Clark. I go through the same things as you- maybe even worse things considering. I have Supergirl, and Catco, and and and. I understand pressure. And I also understand that you did this to me too. You abandoned me with some strange people in some strange world."

Kon blinked. Abandoned? Clark was... oh my god. He was. He was leaving him. This was being abandoned.

"But I won't. I'm going to do the best I can for Kon-el. He deserves it. Even if you think he isn't a real person. He is and he deserves to be around people who won't abandon him like you did to me. What you're doing now."

Footsteps.

"You running away Superman?" Kara called out. 

Kon watched as Clark stalked past the small group in the main room, said a quick goodbye and flew off. Kon-el felt his stomach and eyes burn. 

A hand on his shoulder. It felt downright _motherly._

 

**El Paso, Texas**

Jaime was burning. He was burning alive. A groan escaped his lips as he held his arms. It felt like his skin was burning off, shedding like some sort of second skin. He heard white people complain about their own skin peeling from getting sun burnt. Was it like that?

Then it stopped. His body stopped burning. All he could feel was the cold breeze of the desert night.

Shit. Night. His parents were going to kill him if they noticed he had snuck out. It was stupid as hell to even sneak out. What was he, a spoiled thirteen year old white girl?

Jaime stood up and began walking.  
God, what happened? All he could remember was that he was in space, with green men. No. Men dressed in green. The- the Green Lanterns.

Everything else was blank. Maybe he hit his head during. Whatever they were doing.

Jaime examined his clothes. His faded red shirt had a hole the size of a tennis ball on the shoulder and his jean were ripped to shreds in the knees. He needed a good shower. His whole body felt like dirt was living in every crevice of him.

It took him two hours to reach him. It took much longer than usual. Jaime felt drained to his very core. He needed ten years of sleep, a shower, and a hug from his mom.

Nothing was amiss. Everything felt the same as he walked through the streets back home. Once he reached the Reyes household, he slowly opened his window and shimmied inside.

"Oh my God! Papa! Papa!" A girls voice screamed. The light turned on, blinding Jaime, who had became accustomed to the dark. He squinted and brought his hand up to shield his eyes.

"Get the hell out of my house." That was his dad. Okay, what the hell? A click sounded it- that was a gun.

Jaime raised his hands, "Dad, what? What's going on I don't understand?" His eyes adjusted to the insulting bright light.

A black haired girl around his age stood behind Jaime's father. She was clutching blankets to her chest. Who was she? Wait. Why did she call Jaime's dad papa?

He spared a glance around the room. This was his room. Except not really. It wasn't blue anymore. It was a lavender purple. He spotted a few of his belongings, but most of what he could see was not a thing he ever had. It was something a teenage girl would have.

Jaime lowered his hands and gaped at his father. Alberto Reyes had gray hairs and looked much older than the last time Jaime saw him. Yesterday morning.

Nothing made sense. Who was this girl? Why did his father look so much older? Jaime wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep and not feel the dread balling up in his abdomen.

"Dad? I- I don't understand." Jaime felt tears roll down his cheeks. "I've only been gone a day. No. A night. I- who is she? Where's Mama?" He pointed towards the teenage girl. Her hands were covering her mouth, her blankets half on the floor.

Alberto lowered the gun he had pointed towards his son. "Jaime?" His face was full of wonder, like he hadn't expected his own son to be here. Jamie's gut felt like it was being pulled towards the ground.

"I don't understand." Jaime repeated, mostly to himself. He was gone for- for a night. Or a day. Something like that.

He much had said those words aloud because the girl behind his father said, "It's been ten years Jaime."

His gut touched the floor. Jaime leaned forward, suddenly hit by a wave of dry heaving. He shook his head in disbelief. No. No. It's been a day at the most. He was in space fighting with the Green Lanterns. He was in space for-

Space was an unreliable shit.

Dry heaves done with (hopefully), Jaime stood back at. He stared at the two people. Family. They were both.

"Milagro? No. You're only. Oh my God." Jaime's hand covered his mouth as he really looked at the young woman in the room.

There was no doubt that she was the seven year old sister he had last seen. She was short and a little chunky. Her black hair waved over her shoulders. Jaime reached over and touched her cheek.

"It was only a day." He whispered.

Milagro shook her head, her hand resting on top of her older brothers. "I'm seventeen now Jaime."

Jaime blanched. "So am I." He wiped at the tears on his cheeks. "How? How are you not freaking out?"

"A lot has changed in ten years Jaime." Milagro said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Um. So much has changed. Why don't we go to bed and talk in the morning?" She glanced at their father.

Alberto had a stream of tears running down his face. He gave a small nod as he stepped forward and enveloped his two children in his arms. Jaime felt wet hair on his forehead accompanied by chapped lips. The last time his father had given him a kiss was when he was eight and nearly died in some stupid accident.

Jaime sobbed into his fathers chest. He noticed how his mother was absent from their family reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm rlly excited for this oh my goodness!!! I had these thoughts for what I would like to see and I then I thought "dude, you can write it" so here I am lol.
> 
> I feel like Hal's part is a bit slow srry about that. I hope the rest was interesting! I was halfway thru Kon's part when I realized I'm literally writing about teenagers and Hal is kinda out of place? But eh whatever. My fav trash man is still gonna be around 
> 
> If anyone wants to talk hmu on tumblr my dc sideblog is barryudonescrewed up :)


	2. The Sweet, Sweet Clone Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I've never been around a child and I do not want to accidentally rip off a tiny arm."
> 
> "Ew, not the image I needed Kon-el. Almost as bad as seeing my ex-boyfriend kissing my friends fiancé in a musical hallucination."

"What's your favorite thing? Like ever?" Kara asked as she handed Kon a cone of ice cream. It had three stacks of mint and chip, which, frankly, was nothing compared to her five stacks that contained cookie dough, mint and chip, chocolate chip, and two stacks for strawberry cheesecake. 

Kon was led to believe that women were supposed to be graceful and eat... less. Lex was dumb though. Plus, what did he know about women? He genetically engineered his DNA with another mans. Kon's also pretty sure the only women Lex talked to was Mercy, and she didn't really count. 

"I like flying." Kon licked the ice cream before giving it an experimental bite. He shuddered and decided to never do that again. "It makes me feel weightless. And the sun. The sun feels like home."

Kara gave him a large grin. That was something about Kara. She seemed to always find a reason to smile. Kon had known her for three days now, and each time he saw her, she was grinning.

"There's nothing quite like flying," Kara crossed her legs and leaned forward. Her blonde hair nearly fell into her ice cream. "What else?"

Kon scrunched up his eyebrows and thought what did he like, what did he think of as his favorite? He never really thought about something like that. In Cadmus it was all learning. The few weeks with Clark, it was also learning, in a much different way. Kara. She challenged Kon.

The young Kryptonian silently licked at his ice cream. "I like this ice cream." Kara laughed.

The past three days had been what Kara called 'ice breakers' between her and Kon. They hadn't broke any ice, but they were playing some pretty fun games. Apparently, today was game night. Kon and Kara were waiting for the rest to arrive to her and James apartment.

Kon liked Kara and James. Unlike his original thought, Kara was not weird. Maybe a bit. But it was refreshing compared to others Kon had met who always seemed so collected and fake. James was also really nice; he was much nicer than Lois, who seemed to be irritated when she was around children. James genuinely seemed to care about Kon-el and wanted him around.

After about half an hour of nice silence between Kon and Kara, the front door opened to reveal James and Winn. The two men held several boxes of take out food; Winn had three boxes of pizza, James had four bags of boxes of Chinese food.

"Hey hey there chikadee and cuckoo bird," Winn grinned at the two Kryptonians as he set the boxes of pizza on the dining table. "Wow. You did a Barry and got ice cream? Without your bff and bf? Whoever said Supergirl was kind was so wrong."

Kara laughed, stood up, and gave her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. "Alex texted she and Maggie are gonna be here in ten."

Kon scrunched his eyebrows together. "What's. What's a Barry? Is that a movie reference or something?"

"Mmm!" Winn shook his head. He hung his bag on the chairs before sitting down. "It's something; an inside joke. You see, we know this guy named Barry and the first time we met he got us ice cream. We should all go visit him sometime. As I recall, I still need to meet the famous Cisco Ramon."

The group of friends began talking and bickering. Kon-el sat on the sidelines, laughing when it was appropriate and leaving his own snarky comments in the conversation that got Winn laughing hard, gripping the table, and wiping his eyes.

Alex and her girlfriend, Maggie, arrived a little later than anticipated. "Sorry, we got a little side tracked," Alex grinned, her pale face a bit red in the cheeks.

"Side tracked, huh?" Winn waggled his eyebrows. Kara lightly smacked his arm and scolded him with a hissed, " not in front of Kon-el."

They asked Kon what he wanted to play. Kon frowned and looked at the boxes of games they have out. Never had Kon played a game. Not like these. Lex would call his quizzes 'games,' but those weren't exactly fun. He randomly picked one box out and set it on the table.

"Oh! I love Headbandz!" Kara clapped her hands as James opened the box. "Have you ever played Kon-el?"

"Uh- no," he shook his head. He pushed his hair out of his eyes. "How do you play?"

Kara explained as she shuffled some cards. It seemed easy enough. Kon placed the headband on his head. Feeling undeniably awkward and uncomfortable, he ripped it off. His hair just...

"Here Kon-el, maybe this will feel better." Alex leaned over and pushed something into his hair. It was small and scraped hard against his scalp for a second. It didn't hurt, but he was sure if he was a human he'd flinch or cry out.

"Ow," he muttered with a frown. "Kar- uh. Never mind." Kon went to set the band back on his head.

Kara gave the young Kryptonian a small, kind smile. "What's wrong Kon-el?"

He shifted for a second, a bit uncomfortable with a group of peoples eyes on him before shrugging, mostly to himself. "I want to start training already. I need to understand myself. I'm. I'm Clark's clone, but I'm not Clark. I want to know my boundaries. Also, what did your sister put in my hair I don't fucking understand it and its purpose oh my god."

"Watch your language! Aren't you less than a year old?" Winn's words were scolding, but a smile was on his face.

"According to Batguy I'm sixteen. A perfectly acceptable age to begin the American dialect's cursing. Plus, it brings spice to my words." Kon grinned at the older man.

Winn laughed. Kon liked Winn's laugh in particular. It was big and loud, unlike the man who was short and quiet at most times. "You really shouldn't Kon. No matter if it brings spice. You think Supergirl curses?"

He had never heard her cuss. He shook his head. "But, she's a person. Doesn't she do it once in a while?" He looked over at his aunt, a smile ghosting his lips. 

Kara crossed her heart and said, "Nope, never. And, Kon, we start training tomorrow. That and your new rule that if I hear a curse word out of your sweet young mouth, I will wash your mouth out with soap or Rao help me." She had a twinkle in her eye that made Kon grin and nearly jump across the table to hug her. He decided to just put the headband on and begin the game.

_____________________

They were about ten minutes into the game when the news channel began to show coverage of an attack near the city hall. Kara proceeded to rip off her clothing and jump out of her window.

"How does nobody never notice her?" Kon asked, pointing at the window Kara had just fled out of.

"I bet they totally do. Plus she's not very subtle with the whole glasses bit." James began putting away the game. "Personally, I think the DEO have something to do with people not 'noticing.'"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean? We protect the people."

James scoffed, "Yeah, but I'm just saying isn't it suspicious how-"

Kon-el's attention was broken from the bickering as Winn slipped a notebook out of his bag and set it in front of him and the Kryptonian boy.

"What do you want your suit to be like? I drew some designs already, but I want your thoughts first." Winn opened the notebook. Kon gave Winn an inquiring glance before looking at the page.

There were several detailed drawings on ten different pages of suits with the House of El crest. Winn had scribbled in color in some of them.

Kon tapped on one design. "This one is awesome. Though. It's missing something." He scrunched up his face in deep thought before shrugging and giving his hair a little flip. "Whatever I'll figure it out."

Winn nodded at dog eared the page. "I like this one. Not too similar to Superman's or Supergirl's. I wonder what we'll call you? Superkid? Strongboy?" He raised his eyebrows and poked at Kon's bicep.

Kon rolled his eyes and rolled down the sleeve of the t-shirt he had bought. It was for some band he had never heard of, but he liked the picture. "Winn, can I ask you something?"

"Anything chickadee," Winn bit into a slice of pizza.

The young Kryptonian felt his cheeks heat up. He had thought Winn called Kara 'chickadee' and not him. It didn't seem to fit Kon whatsoever. He did like having a nickname. All Lex had called Kon was a huge disappointment or a weapon. Those weren't really a nicknames, or true at all.

"Why are you guys training me? Taking care of me? I heard- I heard Kara and Clark's conversation before he left. She said he abandoned her and me. That he didn't think I'm a real person." Kon-el lowered his voice. He picked at the bobby pin Alex had planted in his hair. It had become loose and stuck to a strand of his hair.

Winn sighed. "You shouldn't eavesdrop Kon-el. It's rude. And you shouldn't have heard those things. We know you see Clark as a father. But he. He's confused. It's not fair to you whatsoever, but Clark wanted space from you. Kara wants to prove that you are more than some clone made in a lab by some evil bald dude."

"Can I ever prove myself to Clark?" Kon poked at the rips in his jeans, he refused to look up at Winn.

The man took a few minutes to answer. "I don't know. I think you can prove yourself to the world."

That, no matter how inspirational sounding, was not enough for Kon. It was the same as saying no. Clark would only see him as a clone of him, a boy who had no real future or purpose. Kon knew that wasn't true. He was more than a clone. He had his own feelings and memories. His own one of a kind set of DNA (oh my god would he become bald like Lex? He hoped not his hair was great). He was his own person.

But that didn't seem to matter if Clark didn't acknowledge it all.

______________________

Kon-el blocked the punch Kara sent his way. He raised himself from the ground, taking Kara with him, and slammed her onto the floor.

"Your pretty good for a kid," Kara grinned, seemingly unfazed by being body slammed. "I don't think you need make training. Just the regular workout regiment if that's your thing."

Kon grinned back and helped her back to her feet. "If there is one thing Lex did right, it all the learning about fighting." Kon wiped his sweaty face with his tank top. "Hey, can I get a phone?"

"A phone? Sure. I'll ask J'onn if it can come out of the money he doesn't pay me," Kara snorted, then promptly flinched. "Sorry. That sounded rude. Yeah, no. I'll try to get you one."

Kon gave a loud whoop, twisted up in the air, and pumped his fist. "I saw all the things they can do and I want one so I can look at pictures and stuff. Thanks Kara, you're the best kinda sorta young aunt in the world- no. I dare say the entire galaxy."

His aunt rolled her eyes. "You sure have the dramatics of a teenage boy," she said with a laugh. "Speaking of. We know you want to take lessons here and not at a school. But, I feel like it's unhealthy for you not to be around other kids your age."

"I'm one Kara. Are you going to send me to preschool?" Kon-el ran his hand through his hair. "I've never been around a child and I do not want to accidentally rip off a tiny arm."

"Ew, not the image I needed Kon-el. Almost as bad as seeing my ex-boyfriend kissing my friends fiancé in a musical hallucination," Kara scrunched her nose and shook her head. "And no. I was thinking you could try to make friends who are fifteen or sixteen years old."

Kon puffed out his cheeks. "Where'd I find someone like that who'd wanna hang out? Sounds unrealistic."

The boy walked over to where Winn was typing away on a computer. He leaned against the table and lazily watched as Winn's fingers flew across the keyboard. At closer inspection, Kon noticed that the man was doing two things at once; searching for an alien mob hideout for J'onn, and messaging Clark Kent via email.

"Why are you mailing Clark?" Kon frowned and crossed his arms.

Winn hummed, "I am trying to get to his vigilante friend. Apparently the dude has a sidekick around your age. Maybe you two could meet?"

"Yeah, and since when do forced relationships work? I started watching this one show on Netflix and when the main character wanted to introduce her best friend to her friend group, it did not work at all." Kon shook his head.

That was only half the reason, if Kon was honest. The other half was that he was terrified to interact with new people. He found where he liked to be, the people he liked. He didn't need to talk to someone new. He was good here. Why would he talk to someone and risk being disliked or told something rude about his creation? The Kryptonian bit his lip, but didn't voice his other worries.

Kara cocked her head to the side. "Are you talking about Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? Should you even watch that?"

She gave her ward a look of worry as Kon shook his head and said, "How should I know ya'll are the ones who gave me the tv."

"We're the reason he cusses at one years old," Kara bemoaned as she threw her hands up.

"Can't blame everything on Lex, huh?" Kon-el rolled his eyes when his kind-of aunt moaned and nodded.

Something from Winn's computer beeped. J'onn strolled up, "Did you find their hideout Agent Schott?" He set his hand on Kon-el's shoulder as he stepped next to him. Kon stood up straight.

Something about J'onn made that single touch seem like a praise that made Kon want to do whatever he did right again.

"Yes I did! It's exactly where you'd think it'd be, but would think it's too stupid to be there since it's too damned obvious." Winn put his screen up on the big screen so J'onn could see it clearly.

The director nodded. "I'll send Agent Danvers and a team in. Supergirl will be on stand by if needed." Kara nodded and went off to find her sister to inform her. "Kon-el, excellent job with training today."

"Ah, uh, thank you sir," Kon grinned and scratched the back of his head. "I'm trying my best."

J'onn nodded and gave a small smile. "You're be ready in no time. That is if you truly want to be in the family business."

That made Kon pause for a moment. He never thought for second that he could do or be anything else. He didn't really want to. "This seems like the only thing I can do. Plus, this'll totally be a punch to the gut to Lex. His weapon fighting for good? I can hear him crying already."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this little fluffiness! I decided to make this chapter about Kon-el since he's with Supergirl, which comes on first in the week on Monday. (Bonus points to whoever guesses who Kon's first crush is within this fic, tho maybe it's a bit obvious lol)
> 
> I'm not particularly happy with how this chapter turned out, but I do enjoy it and I hope everyone reading did to! 
> 
> Next chapter we'll discover how Team Flash is dealing with a thirteen year old speedster. I'm sure they're all running around in worry ;)
> 
> If you wanna share any ideas in the comments or on tumblr I'd love to hear them! Once again my Tumblr is barryudonescrewedup


	3. Lightning Fast Pecks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Any speedsters that hate you?"
> 
> "Nearly all of them except, like, four?" 
> 
> "Not helpful dude. Maybe someone from another universe? Who has a grudge against you for some reason or another?"
> 
> "Ha! That is Barry's whole life right there!"

Grandpa Barry opened his mouth about five times before any words escaped his mouth. "Uh, I'm sorry? You're my... grandson?"

Bart rolled his eyes at his grandfather. He always heard that Barry Allen was a bit slow on the roll, but he thought this would go easier. He thought they would instantly hug him and tell him just how beautiful he was and race against him all throughout Central City. Maybe what he thought was a bit out there, but couldn't abbot dream? After all this was the first time Bart was meeting the man he was named after.

Suddenly feeling out of place, Bart nodded slowly. Without actually meaning to, he sped forward to be directly in front of Grandpa Barry. The man's eyes widened and he flinched back. "I came to mee- for a mission. I came for a very important mission only I could do and help you with."

The Flash lifted up his cowl and Bart could see his whole face for the first time. While Bart was sure all of his looks came from the West family, Barry Allen was handsome in his own rights. Bart had only ever really saw his grandfather's face in old timey photos. They may have been good quality, but it wasn't the same.

Bart began to wring his hands together at super speed. Oh my god this silence was going on for way too long much too long Bart felt like he was going to disintegrate into nothing if he stood in awkward silence for another second.

Luckily, he was saved from exploding in on himself. Great-grandfather Joe West stepped forward, set his hands on Bart's shoulders. Bart stared into his eyes, which were full of unshed tears.

"You have Barry's eyes." He said.

Bart bit his lips and blinked as fast as he could to rid of any tears. This was getting to him. He gave ten fast shakes of his head. In a matter of seconds his emotions were glossed over. "I think my speed speaks for itself. But, yeah I have the Allen eyes," Bart gave slow, exaggerated blinks.

Joe West chuckled and pat Bart's back. "So you're from the future?"

"Usually when we meet speedsters from the future they're trying to kill us dead." Cisco Ramon's hands went to his hips, his eyebrows raised in skepticism. He looked like a cute teddy bear attempting to be serious.

Bart raised his arms in a comical shrug and began to walk in a circle, "Those speedsters were sick. Me, I was born a speedster into a family of heroes. I'm basically destined to be the third Flash!" Bart stopped walking, made a circle with with thumb and index finger, and held it over his left eye as he stopped to stare at his grandfather. "My parents named me after you. I love it. Always felt a connection with you- even if you are a white stick boy. Oops that was mean sorry sometimes my mouth says stuffs faster than my brain thinks."

A laugh escaped from Grandpa Barry's lips. "It's good. Wally called me a 'white shadow' when we first met. Oh- so do you know who we all are?"

Bart grinned and sped forward to each person to give them a shake of their hand as he said their name. "Cisco Ramon, Vibe. The only man who, besides a speedster, can defeat a speedster. Uncle Wally, Kid Flash, The Flash Two, great man through and through. Great-grandpa Joe West, never met ya, but heard great things from Dad and Aunt Dawn. Grandma Iris, an amazingly beautiful journalist and reporter for Central City News, the city will weep when you retire I guarantee that. And! Grandpa Barry The Flash the coolest fastest man alive who inspires me every step of the way it's nice to. No."

Bart pulled back his hand like he had been burned and began to pace. No. What he was saying wasn't right. No no no no no! No! He knew Barry Allen! He knew and met and played with his grandfather!

Then why didn't he feel like that was true? Why were there memories where Barry Allen was only a picture, a statue, a gravestone.

Bart wiped at his eyes and shook his head and ripped his goggles off his head and threw them across the room and screamed and tugged at his hair and stood still still still this wasn't right that wasn't his life no he was here to to-

Mission. To set time back.

He lifted his head, arms back down, jaw set. "Sorry."

"What was...?" Grandpa Barry kneeled down to grab Bart's goggles. He handed them back to his grandson. "What's wrong? You said you had a mission."

Bart nodded and set his goggles back on his head. "Something is wrong with time. Me too I guess because of what happened with time whatever look- the timeline changed. Someone is going to kill you. I don't know when, but if the memory I have this false dumb memory that shouldn't exist you die sometime this year, no. 2018. May. We have till them to change the timeline back and save your life Grandpa."

Bart was focused on his grandfather only. The Flash only sighed, rubbed his temples, and collapsed onto a chair. He gave a slow nod. It took him for freaking ever to reply with, "Okay. That's enough time. Do you know who did, does, it?"

Bart shrugged. "No idea. Could be anyone. Um. Let me write up a list!" He moved to where the clear board was, grabbed a marker and wrote.

 _The Top (Dillon)_  
Mirror Master (Scudder)  
Weather Wizard (Mardon)  
Trickster 1 or 2 (Jesse or Walker)  
Felicity Smoak (no pwr???)  
Killer Frost (Snow; clear motive)  
Abra Kadabra (plausible idk tho)

Bart pulled back, tongue stuck out of his mouth as he thought. "Pied Piper is a part of the team. Captain Cold should show up soon. Golden Glider is a softie at heart like her big brother. I can't think of anyone else. Any speedsters that hate you?"

Barry raised his arms up and groaned, "Nearly all of them except, like, four?"

The young speedster laughed out, "Not helpful dude. Um. Zoom is hella dead. Thawne should be dead. Savitar is gone. Maybe someone from another universe? Who has a grudge against you for some reason or another?"

"Ha! That is Barry's whole life right there!" Cisco rolled his eyes and threw up his arms. "Should we even do anything? Beforehand? We- and I mostly mean Barry on this- messed with time so much that I'm sure the Speed Force is mad."

Uncle Wally gave a slow nod. "How are you even here? The Speed Force isn't exactly fond of Barry."

It was true that The Speed Force wasn't exactly kind to the Allen family. Bart had found that out the hard way when he was ten and wanted to go back in time to watch some game or something he missed. Which is why he didn't time travel using the Force. Yeah, that's right.

"I didn't use the Force," Bart shook his head. A slow grin traveled through his face. "I built my own time machine! The Speed Force can't be mad if I didn't use them to travel back," Bart tapped two fingers against his forehead. "I may have miscalculated my arrival but I was kinda confused still kinda am it's all so much to take in having these two memories."

A hand on his shoulder. Bart glanced over to see his grandmother, smiling kindly at him. "We'll figure this out Bart. We won't let Barry die. Barry saved me; he saved all of us. Time to do the same."

Never had Bart thought he would be in this situation. He was going to save his grandfather! He was going to work with him in his prime! This was everything he had ever wanted in the conflicting timelines in his mind. In the correct timeline, he had raced against his grandfather, had helped save lives. It just wasn't the same as when The Flash was in his prime. He was slower and had more difficulty keeping up with Bart, who had been born with the connection to the Speed Force.

Bart grabbed his grandmothers hand and gave her soft palm a quick kiss, just a brush of his lips that he knew she wouldn't feel until after he pulled away. "I would never allow you to feel that pain. It shouldn't have even happened in the first place."

Grandma Iris titled her head to the side, a smile still on her face. "You're quite the charmer. All the little future girls must love you," she teased.

Bart grinned, twirled around and sang out, "It's the irresistible Allen blood! All the girls and boys enjoy my charm even if they can't quite catch the full extent!"

"Irresistible Allen blood," his grandmother repeated with a wicked wide grin. "I don't think Barry has any of that." His grandfather raised up and hands and mouthed 'what I do?'

Bart waved his hand around his head, "Oh woe the Allen charisma skips a generation or two but oh oh oh when it's there it is abundant!"

_____________________

Great-grandpa Joe, who insisted on being called Papa Joe, asked Bart if he wanted to stay with him and Wally in their house. Bart had answered the second he had uttered "stay."

After a whole, awkward conversation on where Bart's time machine was (in a ditch, half destroyed) and if he had any other clothes than the ones on his back (simple answer- no) Papa Joe decided he and Grandma Iris would take him clothes shopping before he settled in the West house.

Now, wearing a S.T.A.R. Labs sweatshirt and sweats over his suit, Bart was fidgeting as he sat in the back seat of a car.

"I can't speed in public?" Bart whined as he resisted the urge to kick the seat in front of him. Ugh cars and transportation in general was so damn slow he could be anywhere in a second or two and here in a car it took for-freaking-ever.

"No," Iris and Joe said in unison. Bart poured and slumped in his seat. "And no calling Iris grandma."

Bart groaned, but nodded anyways. "Whatever you say Papa," Bart gave him a wicked grin.

Iris gave him a high five. At her fathers look she laughed and said, "You could have a grandson Dad."

"Apparently I will. Soon, if this one is anything to go by." Papa Joe pointed back at Bart with his thumb.

"Spoilers!" Bart sang out, before giving a wink and mouthing 'soon.' "Hey, you and Grandpa Barry are getting married soon, huh? Can I attend or like be a part of the wedding?"

Iris's eyes widened and she turned nearly all the way in her seat to look at Bart. "I need a ring bearer. Can you do that?" Bart nodded enthusiastically.

Him, being a part of the West-Allen wedding? He couldn't wait to go home and look at the old photos to see himself with everyone smiling and happy.

The car finally stopped and they climbed out. Despite being a teenager who didn't need to, Bart slipped his hand in Papa Joe's. Joe raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't let go. They were at a mall. Wow. How vintage. Bart had only ever bought clothes online.

Trying on clothes was much more fun then he ever thought. His Papa and Grandma would give him a thumbs up or down whenever he regaled them with the outfit he had on.

Since he wasn't allowed to speed, it took much much longer than Bart had wished it would be. But he had fun. Bart had a way that made him fit easily into another's life and feel right at home. He was glad they liked him so much already.

When they bought him a the clothes, he thanked them and gave them a quick kiss on their cheeks. This time he did it human-fast. The love of the West's was possibly the best thing Bart had ever experienced even better than running. His family in general was the best. He love his family so so so much and that's why he was here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope you all enjoyed this installment of This Is Our Life Now, Apparently! I wish it was kinda longer, but I feel like it met a natural end where I stopped? Like if I added anymore it'd be too much. 
> 
> I feel like they kinda excepted Bart rlly fast but be honest Team Flash would hardly blink if this happened and they trust super easily (with like an episode or two of distrust, mostly on Cisco's part lol). 
> 
> Papa Joe West is seen and yes I totally want to write the WestAllen wedding. Literally both are beautiful things that I need in my life oh my goodness. 
> 
> So I was thinking about Trans boy Bart Allen, and issues that could arise with that, but I'm not exactly sure if that's something I should include? Idk I think I wanna know peoples opinions before I make a concrete plan and make it an official thing in this fic. 
> 
> Anyways! Thanks for reading! Please stick around for more and tell me what you think!


	4. Queen is Green, Obviously

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oliver Queen. Millionaire mayor vigilante. Spent five years on an island that made me become- this."

Huh. People really believed what they wanted to believe. How dumb was the Starling- Star City- public? Sorry sorry, that's rude. Maybe five years in space made Hal a little brash. Nah. He's always been this way, maybe with a bit more class though.

But, seriously? Mayor Oliver Queen has been arrested twice for suspicion of being the vigilante, Arrow, Green Arrow, whatever the hell he was called. The man arrested and murdered in prison was definitely not the same man as the Arrow. The Green Arrow, who arrived after the 'Arrow's' death, was definitely the same man as the Arrow. It was aggravating.

The crazy shit that happened in Starling- Star City- happened immediately after his arrival. Honestly, what a comic book life.

Ha! Like Hal's was any different. He's a fucking space cop in green mind-made spandex.

Hal heaved a sigh and stretched his arms over his head as he leaned back in the flimsy library chair. The chair felt like it would break at any second and had a deep indention from so many different butts sitting in it. It was oddly warm.

On a whim, Hal flew over to Starling since it was, apparently, widely known for its vigilantes. As much as he wanted to meet The Flash, Hal decided to wait on that. He wanted to see what men without powers, like The Flash and technically Hal himself, could do.

Hal had spent the last two hours in this public library, switching from the twenty minute computer time to searching old newspapers within the last five years. Apparently, Hal missed an army of orange clad strongmen, ninja men, a magic man, the murder of a DA who was a vigilante, a murdering DA, multiple Flash sightings, and the tragic murder of several former mayors. One who just so happened to be Moira Queen. And that murdered vigilante? Dinah Laurel Lance. What sad coincidences.

How could Hal be the only one to figure this all out? There must have been a few others. Maybe there was some bad chemicals in the Starling water supply that made them just shy of dumb.

"Hey."

Hal glanced over to see a little girl with a glittering pink dress and a scowl on her face. "What."

The girl pointed at the computer in front of him, "You've been on here for twenty-one minutes. I counted."

Hal looked at the time. That was about right. "Ah. Sorry." He wiped the history tab clear and stood up.

The little girl stuck her tongue out at him and sat where his butt just graced. Hal's hand flew to his chest like a scandalized southern woman and he gave her a quick glare before going to the magazine section.

Immediately, he saw an old 2006 magazine cover featuring Oliver Queen. Hal had to admit he was hot, even with that long early 2000s hair and smug ass rich boy face. Hal knew for a fact if he had ever seen Queen in a bar back then, he'd of tried to chat him up a bit. He wasn't quite sure if he would now. Maybe to see if he could get a rise out of Queen.

There were others with Queen's face- tabloid magazines, business magazines, political magazines. Queen sure was the token boy of this city.

Before he left, Hal chat up the librarian. She was a pretty middle aged woman who put on a bit too much makeup, but obviously (because she began speaking about it after five minutes oh god Hal didn't need her life story) didn't get the attention she wanted from her husband for her efforts. Hal spent about twenty minutes explaining that she should talk to her husband. She seemed to have never thought of that.

Starling had a sort of gloom that hung over the city that Hal had rarely ever seen in other cities on earth. It was a gloom that came from constant battles and heartbreak. Hal had seen it on many planets that were waged by carnage.

Hal whistled as he walked down the sidewalk towards city hall. He may have received some glares, he may have sent them the bird back. The beauties of the world at work.

Once at city hall, Hal sat on one of the many steps and began eating a burger he bought earlier at Big Belly Burger. He totally forgotten how great they were. Maybe he should get one to open up on Oa.

Hal was halfway through his burger when a small group exited the building. They were all dressed in nice suits and walking like they meant business. A white man was leading the group, his chin held up all high and mighty.

Oliver Queen. John Diggle. Rene Ramirez. Dinah Drake. Something must have happened in the crime world if they were all together like that in broad daylight.

Without thinking, Hal lifted his and to his mouth and wolf whistled, "Nice ass!"

The whole group turned back with in a simultaneous glare. Drake raised her hand up to flip him off. Before she could, Hal shook his head and pointed at Queen. Drake's eyebrows rose and she looked over at where he was pointing. She gave a shrug and yelled over to him, "To each their own!"

Queen, looking absolutely confused and scandalized while scowling, opened his mouth to ask Drake a question as they began walking away. Whatever she answered made him glare back over at Hal, who gave him a shit-eating grin and a wave.

____________________

Flying was fucking awesome. In a plane, by the power of a green alien ring, it was always just downright awesome. No other word for it.

It was near midnight, and Hal could just feel the tension in the air. It made the hairs on his arms and neck stand. Something was going to go down.

Just below him, motorcycles zoomed past. Mildly interested, Hal conjured up a pair of binoculars and zeroed in on the group. They seemed harmless, except for the huge ass guns slung on their backs. They looked like they were twenty pounds and could be better used to hammer something than shooting. Ugh. Great.

Hal tailed them for a few minutes before creating a giant brick wall in front of the riding men and women. All but one person stopped before they hit the wall.

"Does this city have a green fetish?" A woman yelled towards Hal, a sneer clearly on her face despite it being covered by a helmet.

Hal scoffed at her. "How rude. I make green work. Green never looked this good, honey. Now, I don't think black is any of your color. Orange seems like a better fit."

The woman flicked her wrist. "Kill him. We already have Green Arrow and company on our asses, we don't need this prick too."

Up went the guns. Ugh. Great. Without really knowing what to do, Hal's signature giant green fist came and punched them all before they could shoot him. The crew went to the ground, disoriented, and several lasers (Hal had seen articles about Captain Cold and Heatwave, but lasers! Oh my god what was this world now?) shot up into the sky, two hit a tree branch which then chose to light in fire. Fuck shit damn no stop. Ugh.

Hal just handcuffed the bikers while watching the burning tree to make sure nothing bad would happen. Should he make a call to 911. That seemed like the only way.

He was about to take off his ring to fish into his pocket to get his phone when someone yelled, "The hell man!"

Hal turned around. Lo and behold the Green Arrow and company. Oliver and company. Now all Hal could see was Oliver Queen as a little singing cat.

The man who yelled at Hal was Rene Ramirez, aka Wild Dog, in his hockey mask and jersey. He pointed at the handcuffed crew.

"We've been following them to see their suppliers!" Wild Dog angrily huffed. "The fuck you doing? Who even are you?"

"Calm down Wild Dog," Green Arrow placed his hand on the man's chest. Ramirez puffed up before standing down. "The police have been contacted and are on their way."

"Sorry about messing up your plan GA," Hal yawned as he watched lazily Wild Dog touch the handcuffs Hal made.

"What are these? Part of your weird gimmick? And really man? Is that spandex?" Ramirez sneered.

Hal just watched the fire burning the tree. He pointed at it. "Is that our problem or the police's?"

"Who even are you?" Ramirez growled, looking around with his hands up.

"Green Lantern, space PD. Nice to meet you Wild Dog. Or do you prefer Rene?" Hal gave his shit eating grin, head tilted to the side. Carol hated when Hal did that.

Ramirez froze. "What the fuck?"

Queen's hands gripped his bow. "Excuse you?" His voice was gravelly and low, nearly a literal growl.

Hal shrugged and let himself float up in the air. "You guys aren't really subtle. Plus, looking at all the facts, it's obvious. Hey, do you know The Flash Queen? I heard you've done team ups with him."

"Who are you?" The asshole raised the bow at him arrow at ready! The hell? How does this guy make friends.

Instead of answering, Hal flew up. He heard Queen give the order to follow Hal. Maybe Hal didn't think out what he was going to once he got to the point. He flew for a couple minutes before stopping in a random alley.

He was leaning against a brick wall when Green Arrow came stalking up. He stopped in front of Hal and tugged off his hood.

"Hal Jordon. Pilot. Nearly five years ago I received this glowing green ring that gave me powers and made me a literal space cop. Just came back a week ago. Wanted to meet the heroes." Hal stuck out his hand for a shake. "Sorry for messing up your plan. Are your guys gonna... get them?"

Green Arrow sighed deeply through his nose. "Oliver Queen. Millionaire mayor vigilante. Spent five years on an island that made me become- this. Spartan and Canary's taking care of them."

Hal nodded as he took off his ring and stuffed it in his jacket's inside pocket. He noticed as Oliver looked him up and down.

"It was you in front of the city hall this morning," Oliver had a semblance of a grin on his face. "Not exactly my type, but I'll keep you around."

Oliver began walking. He paused at the end of the alley.

"You coming or what Jordan?"

Hal grinned as he jogged over to the vigilante. He wasn't quite sure what was happening. He was either in with the vigilante-heroes or was going to have some really hot sex. Hopefully both. Hal voiced his thoughts. The Green Arrow said in his gruff voice, "We'll see."

Hal took that as a yes. Huh. Hal always thought Queen wasn't fully straight. Man, this day was great. Hal followed Oliver to his bike. Oh hell yes, this was going to be fun. 

_____________

"I wanted sex," Hal groaned as he plopped onto the training mat. Oliver brought him into his secret lair to train. "Is this some weird forplay?"

The lair was cool and all with its green aesthetic and tech and mannequins with suits. A few of the Arrow's team had came and watched the two spar before leaving for their own things.

"Who said anything about sex Jordan?" Oliver smirked as he held a water bottle in front of Hal's sweaty, gross face.

Hal took it and sat up. "You! With your innuendo and hot rich boy smirks! I've been deceived and hurt emotionally. I will sue."

Hal watched as Oliver Queen stood shirtless above him. Sweat glistened on his abs. What even was this? He was a great fool being fooled by a hot man. 

"I never said anything like that. I just said you can stick around." Oliver had a stupid stupid smirk on his face. "Let's go another round."

Hal groaned, "You're an asshole Oliver Queen! An asshole! I can't believe you! 'Another round' this is real life click bait!" 

Oliver just gave another smirk. Hal was dead. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thanks for reading! I kinda like how this one turned out tho I wish it was different? Idk writing is weird af 
> 
> Hal and Bart are hella fun for me to write I'm glad I have them! Next up, Jaime is taking on the road. I started his part while writing this so it should be ready soon.
> 
> Please leave a comment I'd love to hear your thoughts! hmu on Tumblr im barryudonescrewedup


	5. Meet the Flash Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How old are you? Oh my god are you, like, a runaway?"
> 
> "You're a real chatter box. It isn't running away when since my dad knows I'm here and let me go. But- it. It wasn't running away. Not really. I- I had to go. To come here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for internalized homophobia in the third part of the chapter

Jaime was seventeen years old when he disappeared to the world, and he came back as seventeen ten years later because space worked like that sometimes. His sister was seventeen, too. His friends were twenty-seven. There was no real way for Jaime to return from the presumed run away he was.

Home was stilted. He couldn't stay. It made his gut wrench and eyes water whenever he looked around the house. When Jaime told his father his feelings, Alberto only nodded and said, "Wait a day, mijo, and I'll give you what you need to go out in the world."

Now, Jaime had a thousand dollars broken up in his wallet and backpack, a prepaid phone that only had a certain amount of minutes and four numbers programmed in it (Alberto, Milagro, the house number, and Alberto's work number), two set of clean clothes, and his backpack.

Jaime couldn't help but feel like he was in some weird indie movie. Hopefully he didn't die or loose everything like those characters had in those movies he watched.

Before he left, he had told Milagro and Alberto everything that happened. The weird blue beetle in his spine, the armor that he had trouble controlling, space, the Green Lantern Corps. They believed him.

"How can you believe something so crazy?" Jaime had asked after he explained. He had somehow become cocooned in his family's arms on the old couch.

"You have no reason to lie, mijo." Alberto answered with a wetness in his voice.

"Plus, there's plenty of crazy here. Central City has meta humans like The Flash and Kid Flash. Star City has The Green Arrow and his team. There's Vixen in Chicago. There's even rumors about an alien invasion that supposedly happened last year," Milagro whispered softly in her older brothers neck.

There were others out there like Jaime. People with powers. Before leaving, he searched them all up. There was a whole Wikipedia page dedicated to them. For Star City Heroes, the only known powered heroes were Ragman and The Canary. Central City had a whole little crew of heroes. There were several others in different places, but they didn't seem to have much information on them other than they may exist.

Jaime wanted to meet The Flash. Maybe someone like him and know what to do and how to help Jaime out. It was a long shot, and naive. Jaime knew that. But what else did he have?

Tickets to a bus to Central City cost almost a hundred hundred dollars, but Jaime paid anyways. It would take about ten hours to get from Texas to Missouri. The bus was filled with old people visiting children and grandchildren. One old couple immediately took a liking to Jaime, since he had manners and would hold conversations with them. They invited him to stay with them for meals when when they made pit stops.

"Are- are you sure?" Jaime felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment. Did he really seem that out of place and in trouble? "I don't want to intrude or waste any of your money."

"It's no problem at all! And no waste! Think of it this way, honey. Me and Jim will die in a few years anyway and then our money goes to our selfish kids who never visit! Take all you want from them!" Irma laughed with a wave of her hand.

Jaime gave an awkward laugh and agreed to stay with them. Better than waste the little money he does have. "Thank you."

Ten hours later, Jaime was in Central City, Missouri.

Irma lightly tapped his arm before he exited the bus. "Who did you say you're visiting again? Do you need any help to get there Jaime." She said his name like 'ha-me.' It was irritating, but Jaime knew white people had trouble with pronouncing simple Spanish words.

"I'm meeting up with some new friends." Jaime smiled, "Thanks for your kindness, Irma. I'll be good from here. Be safe."

___________________

Jaime had never been outside of El Paso. Unless you count him being in space, but that technically didn't count. Central City was overwhelming. He didn't think a city in Missouri could be anything like this.

When he was walking down the sidewalk, a flash a red, like lightning, crackled by him and a few other people. They now each had a rose tucked behind their ears and little stickers on their cheeks.

One teenage girl squeaked and asked if anyone wanted to take a picture with her. Jaime took the photo of her and a few others.

Grinning, Jaime twirled the rose around his fingers and lightly caressed the star and smiley face stickers on his right cheek. He dug into his backpack, found the disposable camera and handed it to the girl who took the group photo. She happily took his picture as he posed.

"Is just the one fine?" She asked as she handed his camera back.

"It's perfect, thanks," Jaime grinned up at her as he shoved the camera back in his bag. He waved bye to her as he walked off. He wasn't quite sure where to go. He didn't really think past going to Central City.

He ended up going to some coffee shop to get some rest. He bought the cheapest item off the menu and began looking for a place to sit.

"Nice stickers! I heard one of the Flash's were zoom zoom zooming around handing those out! Look I got one too!" Some kid jumped up next to Jaime. He had bright orange hair and a surprising amount of freckles. There was a heart and star sticker on his nose and forehead. He looked like he was fourteen, but his little jumping movements made Jaime think of a kid with too much candy. He hoped, for whoever's sake, whatever was in his hand wasn't coffee.

Jaime touched the stickers on his face and felt another grin pulling up his cheeks, "Yeah, didn't even see them though. It was pretty cool."

The kid nodded a few times. "You from around? Or, nah? Oh! I'm Bart, hi! Wanna sit with us?" He pointed to where a few adults sat, having a low conversation.

"Um, sure, if that's fine." Jaime shrugged and bit his cookie. "I'm Jaime Reyes. And nah, I'm from El Paso. Down in Texas." He sat at the chair Bart pulled up for him and gave an awkward smile and a shrug to who he assumed was the kids family. They shrugged back, like this was something he did a lot.

"Texas! Cool! What brings you here to Central? The coolest city in Missouri with our awesome superheroes and art galleries where villains creep at night," Bart brought up his hands in a creeping motion. "How old are you? Oh my god are you, like, a runaway?"

Jaime scoffed and shook his head. "You're a real chatter box. Um. I'm seventeen. It isn't running away when since my dad knows I'm here and let me go. But- it. It wasn't running away. Not really. I- I had to go. To come here. Um. Shit. Never mind maybe I should stop talking. You might think I'm crazy."

Bart cocked his head to the side and gave Jaime a wide eyed look of concern and fascination. "I love crazy. The whole reason I'm here is crazy." One of the adults, a white man, smacked Bart's arm lightly. "Hey! It's true! Let me be nice to my new friend! So, you can tell me."

"I need to meet The Flash." Jaime shrugged, nibbling on his cookie.

"The Flash? Why?" The white man scrunched his eyebrows and gave his full attention to Jaime.

"Uh- do you have one of those phones that connects to the internet? Or a laptop? It's better explained that way I think." Jaime set his cookie down as a woman, Bart's sister maybe, reached into her bag and opened up a laptop.

It was sleek and futuristic. Jaime couldn't believe stuff like that existed. Just a week ago he had a flip phone that was his pride and joy! The woman slid the laptop to Jaime. He typed into the search bar 'Jaime Reyes missing El Paso.'

He had read one of the articles on Milagro iPhone about his disappearance. It was short, which made Jaime realize how insignificant he was to the world. No one cared about a Mexican kid who was almost an adult going missing.

He felt more then saw the adults gather behind him to see the screen in obvious interest. Jaime clicked on a link that he saw had cited his father for saying something.

"The articles from 2007," Bart said as Jaime pressed on it. "I'm confused? Yeah yup uh-huh I am confused. Ya meet a cute stranger and this is what happens."

Jaime chose to ignore the kids weird rambling. The article popped up after a few seconds, oh my God that was hella fast. Man, the future was cool.

The title proclaimed seventeen year old Jaime Reyes missing. A photo of Jaime with Paco and Brenda was the very first thing after the heading. Jaime knew this picture was from a few months before the Blue Beetle/Green Lantern Corps space adventure. They were hanging out under a tree, the three of them laughing. Right under that was another photo, of Jaime with Milagro on his shoulders.

"This is from 2007." The white man seemed to have a permanent bunch between his eyebrows as he stared at the laptop screen.

"I swear, the only people we meet nowadays are never just normal people. My ex-girlfriend? A hawk goddess with a soulmate." Another man shook his head, his long brown hair shook in its small ponytail.

That seemed like quite the story. Guess Jaime wasn't all that unique.

"Are you a time traveler? Or- how?" Bart seemed to have a million questions under his eyes, his mouth trembling as though he was physically stopping himself from shooting out words. He grabbed Jaime's hand and pouted.

"This is going to sound crazy. But, uh, this thing. Like a beetle, connected to my spine and now I have this armor I can't really control. So, I accidentally ended up in space helping these guys called the Green Lantern's out. I guess they're like space cops." Jaime shrugged, hoping he wasn't freaking out this group of people he just met.

Bart gasped, his hand on Jaime's novels, mouth gaping, "You met the Green Lantern Corps? Dude! Oh my god! That's so cool!"

This kid knew about Green Lantern? Was this something people already knew about? Jaime didn't really make a point to search up anything past The Flash. Jaime nodded.

"So why do you wanna meet The Flash?" Bart sipped his drink before slipping his hand across the table to grab an abandoned scone.

"I don't know man. But he's a superhero. Shouldn't he know how to help me? Maybe I can become a hero too, since I don't really have a place anymore." Jaime scratched his chin. He needed to shave the little goatee he had going. "I've always wanted to help people."

"We'll help you," the white man, who Jaime should probably get a name for, smiled as he sat back down. "I'm Barry Allen," he leaned forward with a smirk, "The Flash."

Jaime leaned back and coughed. "You're shitting me? White people have the worst jokes I swear to God."

Bart shook his head, "Not a joke dude! He is! Show him! Let's show him!" He clasped his hands together and made his eyes wide and pleading.

Barry sighed before settling his hand in the middle of the table. It began to-

Holy shit. His hand was vibrating. One part of Jaime's mind was screaming in awe because man that was cool as hell! Another part of his mind wondered how having that power would be like for... you know, sex. He was the fastest man alive. But would it work the same as-

Okay no.

Jaime began to awkwardly laugh. "Um. Okay. Hi. Who are the rest of you guys, I didn't ask? I'm just freaking out what the hell? My luck's turning around."

Barry and Bart just grinned at Jaime. It felt as thought his whole world was shifted. Jaime barely maintained his balance, eyes adjusting. He was no longer in the coffee shop, but sitting in a chair in some unfamiliar room.

"You okay buddy? The first time is always the worst." A familiar voice spoke and a warm hand was on Jaime's shoulder. His eyes adjusted and he saw the long haired his Hispanic man that was with Bart and Barry.

Jaime lightly shook his head. He could feel the beetle tingle in his back, back it stayed dormant. "Wow."

_____________________

"Okay Jaime, are you ready?" Cisco called from behind the glass. Cisco, Bart, and Barry were watching Jaime to see what exactly it was he could do. It was the day after Jaime met them at the coffee shop and he had explained exactly what he had. They were hoping it would react to being in danger.

Jaime gave a thumbs up. "Uh- yeah!"

With the affirmation, Cisco pressed a button that switched on the guns in the walls. The bullets were blanks, but Jaime did not want to be pelted with those. God, he hoped this would work out. His armor seemed unreliable on the most part. It came out once while he was sleeping!

One gun went off and automatically Jaime could feel a tingle on his back and neck. His skin burned. He felt as thick tendrils extended from his back and wrapped around his body.

The bullets hit Jaime's back before bouncing right off. "Oh hell yeah!"

A series of clicking noises sounded back at Jaime. It was gibberish, but somehow it made... sense. The clicking told Jaime what to do and he did it.

Left. Right. Duck. Point arm up. Shoot. Duck. The beetle talked and Jaime listened. The beetle was constantly shifting and creating weapons to protect them.

The guns shut down. Jaime glanced over at Cisco, who had Bart hanging onto his neck with a maniacal grin. "Awesome job Jaime!"

The armor retreated back into his back, like a slow burn. It was like nothing happened.

Bart appeared in front of Jaime, his grin still shining. "That was so cool! You were all pachow pachow! And blue! You're total hot jam Jaime!"

Jaime mouthed 'hot jam' and Bart's grandfather, who shrugged and mouthed 'he says stuff, we roll with it.' Must be a future thing.

And not 2017 future thing. A 2064 future thing. Because, apparently, that's the year Bart came from. Since Bart is Barry Allen's grandson. And Jaime thought he had it weird.

It made some sense of things, Bart being from the future. Jaime had known him for a total of two days now and Bart wasn't exactly a closed book. He would accidentally say something about superheroes who might appear, and was open about his. Uh. Which way he swings.

Jaime wasn't homophobic or anything. He tried not to be. He didn't want to be. But he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable about it. Being gay wasn't something people really talked about in 2007. It happened, of course it did Jaime knew, but.

When Jaime was thirteen, he kissed his best friend Paco. They had agreed it was only for experimenting for when they met girls to actually kiss. Whenever they kissed, Jaime enjoyed it. He liked the feel of Paco's bad early teen stubble and large hands on his thighs.

When he told Paco how he felt, he laughed right in his face and said that'd be gross. Jaime had laughed and said it was a joke. That it didn't mean a thing. It did. Once, Alberto caught the two boys kissing. He had worn his disappointed face and had a tear-filled conversation with Jaime afterwards that made him feel uncomfortable and like he did something wrong.

Jaime knew he liked guys, too. He just never thought there would be a time he could talk about it and be open, like Bart was. He didn't think he could. It still made him uncomfortable thinking about it, like he was doing something against his father.

And yeah, Jaime knew Bart had a small crush on him. It was only obvious to anyone with eyes or ears. Sometimes Bart would stop fidgeting and speeding around and just give Jaime this look; a sweet look that made his hazel eyes shine and wide smile turn dopey. Plus, he never did anything other than look at Jaime and wrap his arm around him. It was bad.

Jaime just didn't know what to do about it to stop it, so he chose to ignore it.

Bart wrapped his arm around Jaime's shoulders, a large grin on his face. Jaime chose to let it happen. The young speedster was running his mouth, talking until his mouth was moving too fast and his words were mushed together and indistinguishable.

"Slow your mouth there Speedy," Jaime laughed, giving Bart a small noggie. Bart giggled and moved out of the grip, his hands on top of his head.

"I'm Impulse officially named by The Flash and Tornado Twins! Speedy is actually the name of one of Green Arrow's team she was pretty awesome I think she's retired right now but if history goes as planned she should come back soon! Which is super exciting I hope I get to see her in action!" Bart corrected Jaime, soon his mouth was once again moving too fast for Jaime to follow.

Cisco rolled his eyes, "Bart, no one can understand a word from your mouth. Barry left a minute ago, in case you didn't notice, wedding stuff with Iris. Okay, that was awesome Jaime. We need to work on calling out the armor even if you aren't in immediate danger."

Jaime nodded as Bart let go of him and speeded out of the room to find his grandparents. "Beetle, it kinda talks to me when it comes out. I'm thinking I should establish more of a connection with it and I'll be able to call out to the armor." He rubbed the back of his next where the beetle resided. It was silent now that Jaime wasn't in danger.

Jaime and Cisco talked longer on how they should train and get the beetle to come.

"You know, it's pretty nice that I don't have to make a suit this time." Cisco said as the two men walked back to the cortex.

Jaime raised his head, "You made The Flash suit?"

"The Flash, Green Arrow, Speedy, Spartan, Kid Flash, etcetera. I've made pretty much every hero I know a suit." Cisco smirked, "Seems like I'm more of a fashion designer than engineer."

Jaime shook his head and brought a pack of gum out of his pocket. "That's awesome man. You're basically he brains of all those- and I've seen that tech in your room. You're a hero for heroes."

Cisco laughed loudly. "Thanks Jaime. You know, it's been nice with Bart around. After everything that's happened, life's been hard. He brought a sort of light back. And- he came with his own suit. Have you seen it? It's so cool it has this sort of thin Kevlar and is thin but durable."

Jaime listened as Cisco explained Bart's suit happily. He had a smile and kept pushing his hair back when it slipped into his face. A shadow of stubble liked his jaw. His eyes shone with excitement and curiosity. Cisco was a handsome man.

Jaime quickly looked away and almost collided with a wall.

"You alright man?" Cisco raised an eyebrow, his smile still regaling his face.

Jaime shrugged and tried not to stare as he realized just how cute the man in front of him was. He shouldn't have these thoughts. Ugh, it was all because of Bart and his stupid shiny eyes. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-seven," Cisco whistled to himself, "almost thirty, wow. I'm still a child."

Jaime stopped walking and shook his head. "I'm supposed to be your age." He looked at his shoes, feeling tears evading his eyes. Ah, shit. Why was Jaime so emotional all the time?

He felt something tickling his back and warmness. Cisco must be resting his hand on Jaime. The sensation grew and a familiar voice whispered to him.

Jaime gasped and stood as straight as he could. The beetle was trying to come out. Even though there was no danger. He locked eyes with Cisco, who was staring at his back. Jaime didn't have to turn to know that there were blue tendrils shifting around.

"Emotion." Cisco whispered. "It responds to emotions."

That made sense. Jaime was upset just now, over not being able to live the life he should of had. The beetle must have seen those feelings as a threat. Mixed with his repressed gay feelings? No wonder it was trying to armor him up. Jaime closed his eyes and tried to think of something else. Anything to get the beetle to settle down.

Milagro when she was born. That time he, Paco, and Brenda watched the X-men movie in theaters. Chicken mole and rice. His bed.

Slowly, the tendrils drifted back inside his back. Jaime opened his eyes and locked them with Cisco's.

"Welp, that's definitely a step forward."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm totally a sucker for bluepulse. However, it's not going to happen, at least not yet. I don't feel comfortable with it since Jaime is 17 and Bart is 14. That's a pretty big gap for teenagers. Plus, Jaime still has his own things to settle regarding his sexuality. 
> 
> Im glad Jaime got to meet Cisco, since they are my two favs. I think they'll both have fun joking about everyone's horrible Spanish (hearing white ppl say Spanish words is funny and just??? It's not that hard, the h is silent, j sounds like h, etc) 
> 
> Next up, Kon-el is a fashion icon and gets invited to the wedding of the year. Thanks for reading! Please comment, press that kudos button, subscribe, or hmu on tumblr! I'd love to hear your opinion!


	6. It's Fashion, Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey! You have a teenager too now Kara?"

A few days ago, Alex and Maggie took Kon to buy some new clothes so he wouldn't have to walk around in Clark's old clothes. Now, his closet in the DEO was full. The three of them went to this place called The Thrift Store that sold items for real cheap.

He really loved the new clothes, they made him feel like one of the characters in the shows he loves. Today he wore a striped red and blue t-shirt, a pair of overalls with a flower embroidered on the breast pocket, and black boots that gave him a few more inches. Yeah, Kon-el looked hella cute.

Using the phone J'onn, thankfully, bought Kon, he took a few selfies. Like a normal teenager. It was fun. Kon had made, with permission, an Instagram and a Tumblr. His only followers on Instagram were Kara and her friends, and surprisingly J'onn, who Kon didn't even know knew how to use a phone properly.

He was strolling down the hall towards the training room while posting the picture he took. After it posted, he noticed he had two new followers. They weren't even people he knew! They both had very nice pictures so Kon followed them back.

"Hey there Kon!"

Kon locked his phone, looked up, and saw James. The man was dressed in workout clothes and he had a grin on his face. Now that Kon-el thought of it, everybody here that he knew was always grinning. Kara, Winn, Alex, even J'onn found a reason to smile for each other.

"Hey Jimmy!" Kon grinned back and carefully put his phone in his pocket. He was still waiting for the case he bought to come in- it had the House of El emblem on it. "Training day?"

"Yup. What about you?" James paused before pointing a finger at the young Kryptonian. "And Jimmy? Really? I've been trying to get away from that."

Kon-el gave his aunt's boyfriend a large grin, showcasing his perfect pearly whites. "C'mon Jimmy, I'm your nephew! Be nice to me. And, I am going to take a test. J'onn wants to know how much Lex taught me. It's gonna be hella lame, but whatever."

James nodded, "Oh yeah, Kara said something about you taking a test soon. Have you studied?"

"Nah. I don't need to. Everything I have learned has kinda- stayed." Kon tapped on his head. "Studying seems redundant."

The pod Kon had been essentially born and raised in taught him everything he needed to now. About the world and other worlds, famous people, heroes, how to kill Superman. Studying wasn't what he needed. It was all waiting inside his head, sitting ready for when Kon needed it.

"Uh. I should go before J'onn drags me there. So, see ya later." Kon wiggles his fingers as a small wave.

The room where Kon was set to take his test was gray and boring like many other of the rooms in the DEO. It made Kon feel itchy and restless. He had the overwhelming urge to throw paint on the walls like a child.

An agent walked in, set a packet in front of Kon. "Good luck Superboy," they said with a small smile before standing in the doorway.

Kon smiled back and looked at the test. It had more pages than Kon liked and a mix of questions about math, economics, history, and science. With a shake of his head, Kon got started.

Once he finished, Kon-el handed the packet to the agent. He gave them a tight smile and left without a word. Hands stuffed in the overall pockets, Kon popped into the main room to see what was going on there.

Kara, dressed as Supergirl, was flying back into the building with a another person in tow. Must be Claire Selton, a powered woman who had been stirring trouble in the city. They weren't exactly sure if she was an alien or a human with powers like Livewire. Two agents took Selton from Supergirl to take her to lockup.

"Good job Supergirl!" Winn shouted out. The man walked over to Kon and pat his back, "How'd that test go Kon-el?"

Kon grinned at Winn, "Easy as pie my guy."

"Nice!" Winn reached up and ruffled Kon's hair. Kon closed his eyes and lived in that moment before Winn pulled his hand away. "I'm almost done with your suit. You should be ready in no time to help Kara out on the streets."

Kon-el fist pumped the air and felt as his feet left the floor for a second in his excitement. Winn chuckled at Kon's outburst.

"Yeah, thought you'd think that. Oh! Clark messaged me back, said Batman values his secrecy and wouldn't like his sidekick affiliating with others. Honestly, Batman seems like a sad man in a sad city. Sorry about that Kon-el," Winn sat back down in his seat.

Not like Kon didn't see that coming. He didn't want a forced friendship anyways. He had-

He had Winn and James and J'onn and Kara and Alex, but it wasn't the same. He wished he had more. Maybe he should go to public school and pretend to be a normal teenage boy.

Kon was about to answer Winn when a large, blue and white something appeared with a 'schoop' in the middle of the room.

"Holy!" Winn yelled as agents around the room got out their guns and pointed them towards the thing. "It's- okay!"

J'onn came walking fast into the room. "It's a portal! It may be The Flash! Stand at ready in case they are unfriendly!"

Kon stood slightly in front of Winn, hands up and ready for a fight. So that was a portal. Kara had told him about The Flash, who was from another world that could open portals to enter their world. Kara was fond of The Flash, Barry Allen, and promised that she'd take Kon to his world, which was apparently Earth-1, to meet the cool heroes there.

He hoped whoever was traveling through was friendly.

Three people walked out and the portal closed. A man with long hair and weird glasses held up his hands, "Whoa! That's not the greeting we expected! Um."

J'onn lowered his hand and told his men to stand down and proceed as before. "What brings you to our earth?"

"Hey! It's Martian Manhunter!" The glasses man grinned and pat J'onn's back.

Kon looked at the other two people. One was a tall, lanky brunette man wearing a cardigan, and another was a black boy a few years younger than Kon.

"Winn, Kon-el, this is Cisco Ramon, Barry Allen, and. I'm not quite sure who this young man is." J'onn gestured to each person with a smile.

The boy waved and was suddenly next to Kon-el. "Bart Allen. I'm Barry's grandson from the future. Wow awesome hair man! I totally like the swoop it has and bro dude your outfit is the bomb dot com!"

Kon-el puffed out his chest and thanked Bart. "You're hair is hella cool." Bart grinned and was suddenly back next to the two older men.

Winn was hugging Barry, a huge grin on his face. "And you are the famous Cisco Ramon!" Winn said as he let go of the speedster and shook the other man's hand. "I've heard so much about you and seen that portal you made Kara, awesome work man."

"Really? You've heard about me? From Supergirl? Dude that's hella awesome!" Cisco shook Winn's hand. "Nice to meet you, Winn. Baer's told me about you. Knew I had to meet you one day."

There was a sudden flash of blue and red. Kara appeared, hugging Barry in Winn's place. James and Alex arrived to see what the commotion was. Everyone had a large grin and were greeting each other with praises and hugs and handshakes. Not sure what to do, Kon-el watched Bart.

Bart was tall and skinny. His hair was dyed a bright orange. He had a pair of red goggles hanging around his neck like jewelry, a tank top with little lightning bolts on it, a soft looking pink sweater that was much too large, black high waisted jeans, and yellow boots that were so scuffed and used they looked like they would fall off his feet at any given moment. Bart had complimented Kon, maybe he should do the same.

Kon-el awkwardly shuffled next to Bart. "Uh- you're outfit's hella cool. Too. It's cool." He felt his cheeks turn bright red and he cursed the human DNA Lex put in him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, unsure what exactly to do with them.

"Thanks uh- what was your name again? I don't think Grandpa Barry mentioned you to me," Bart shrugged apologetically, his hands fidgeting with his goggles.

"Kon-el. I'm Superman's clone." Kon felt a smile tug his lips up as he shrugged too. "So you're from the future? What are you doing here?"

Bart began to tell Kon the story of his traveling to the past. He explained his arrival, eating T.A.F.F.Y ("You mean... taffy? It's a kind of candy." "Taffy? Oh! We don't have that maybe? I don't know I only ever ate speedster regulated food."), and meeting with his family from the past. In exchange, Kon told Bart about himself.

"Grandpa!" Bart called out after Kon finished. He appeared next to Barry, hands on the tall man's elbows. "Grandpa Barry, we gotta let Kon come to the wedding!"

"Kon?" Barry glanced over at the young Kryptonian boy. "Hey! You have a teenager too now Kara?"

Kon rolled his eyes, "Yup. Superman literally dumped me on her since I'm not exactly what you wanna find as a memento after fighting your nemesis. Apparently. Whatever. Hi Barry." He took one hand from his pocket and gave a small wave. "Your grandson is pretty cool by the way."

Barry tilted his head to the side. "Thanks, yeah, he's a real character. Uh- yeah, so the reason I'm here is to invite you guys to the wedding. Since our worlds are a bit unaligned on time, Cisco's going to open the portal the day before so you can come. So, will you guys be there?"

Kara gasped and clapped. "Oh my rao! You and Iris are getting married? When did you propose?"

Barry blushed and scratched the back of his head as Bart nodded enthusiastically. "After the whole musical with Music Meister, we went home and I... sang to her."

"Grandma Iris told my dad and Aunt Dawn so much that they even know the song Grandpa sang! My dad used to sing it to me as a bedtime thing since i would only ever settle down with stories about The Flash," Bart's hand became a blur as he waved it back and forth. His grin was contagious.

"I can't wait to go!" Kara sighed and leaned back on James, who was smiling fondly at her. "So me and James, Alex and Maggie, Winn and Lyra for sure, right?" She glanced at her sister and best friend who nodded back at her in confirmation.

"I won't be able to attend, especially if Supergirl is off planet." J'onn shook his head as Kara turned to him.

"Kon-el, do you want to come?" Barry asked him as he wrote down in a small notebook. Kon assumed he was writing their names so he knew he was coming.

Kon nodded. "I've seen weddings on shows. Seems fun."

Barry grinned at him and Bart cheered. "It'll be so much fun with you and Jaime there! I was so scared I'd be the only young person there if I'm completely honest."

The three people from another universe spent a few more minutes talking and gossiping before they left via portal. Before leaving, Kon got to take a selfie with Bart. It was nice, Bart had his arms around Kon and was smiling so wide nearly all his teeth were showing.

The young Kryptonian posted the picture on Instagram with the caption 'new friend,' with a heart and lightning emoji next to it. Without much thought, Kon went to James's account and found the photo he had been staring at since he made his own account.

Clark had on a large plaid flannel and ripped jeans. His hair was ruffled and curly, his eyes closed as he grinned wide. Lois's head lay in his lap, staring loving at her longtime boyfriend. It was a beautiful picture of the two.

Kon tapped the photo and pressed on Clark's account name. His account was private, but Kon still looked at it. Before he could loose any courage, Kon pressed the follow button and quickly closed the app at of fear. Oh no that was dumb. There was no way Clark was going to follow him back.

___________________

For being a bed in a government facility, Kon's bed was pretty comfortable. Or maybe it was just more comfortable than standing in a pod. He wasn't quite sure.

He had been lying down, scrolling lazily through Tumblr for a good three hours. No one Kon talked to was around this late at night, only night shift agents. He had been texting Kara, but she hadn't replied back in a while, so Kon assumed she fell asleep.

Getting tired of Tumblr, Kon went to his Instagram app. Immediately, he saw the notification of a new follower and some likes and comments. Kon-el gave an exaggerated gasp and waited for the app to load to show who was his new follower.

It was Clark. He liked a few of his pictures and commented on his picture of his and Bart.

"I'm glad you're making friends and having fun with Kara," He read the comment aloud. "Be good."

He burst out into giggles and shook his head. Kon went to Clark's account and commented on his most recent picture of Lois eating a bagel and reading a newspaper. Clark had posted it earlier in the day. Kon left a comment, closed his phone, and decided to finally go to sleep.

 

_Glad everything is good in metropolis give lois my love! don't trip over ur baggy pant leg while chasing a story lol_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like these aren't coming out as I want, but I still enjoy them quite a bit. It's all just kinda set up and fluff? like after the wedding is when things'll pick up 
> 
> I... I just love Bart... and Barry is a dork??? He's so embarrassed about his proposal story lol 
> 
> As I said in the tags, I have 90s kon-el bc the more recent superboy is just a Big Boy in a t-shirt and I feel 90s Kon fits more with how they have Clark in dctv. Anyways, Kon is a fashion icon and loves clothes. 
> 
> I'll be posting a few one-shots soon! One about Maggie and Alex taking Kon to buy clothes, another about Kara's fight against Volcana, and I might do another about Milagro! 
> 
> Thank you for reading I hoped you enjoyed! Please comment, subscribe, etc I'd love to hear from you! 
> 
> Next chapter we'll see how Bart is doing around a cute boy and with last minute wedding planning.


	7. I Don't Hold These Tears Inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I know you speedsters and your candy consumption. It starts as five and then becomes the whole bag in less than ten minutes."
> 
> "This is discriminatory! Just because I am a speedster I am not allowed the basic human right of candy? Preposterous! I will go to court and sue you for all the candies!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's title is from "Satisfied" by My Darling Fury

Papa Joe had let Bart stay in Barry's old room. Barry had, a bit reluctantly, packed up all his old stuff that he had left in there and put it in a box in the attic. Now, the room was Bart's room. No one called it 'Barry's room,' they said 'Bart's room.' It made something that felt like a flower bloom in the speedsters chest and make him grin for what felt like hours.

Yeah, Bart had his own room back home in 2064. It had his posters and pictures and clothes. But having his own room, in the past, with his ancestors was. Nice. Yeah yeah, how lame, but Bart couldn't think of any other way to describe how it made him feel.

Bart has been collecting things that he found interesting and putting it in his new room. Magazines, clothes with nice textures, candies, toys. Despite the hoarding, he had been keeping the room as clean and tidy as possible.

Bart had found an etch-a-sketch in the attic. When nobody else had wanted it, he claimed it as his own. He was playing with it now, drawing and shaking it. It was two in the morning, so he was trying to be as silent about it as he can.

Speedsters didn't need as much sleep as other people. All of his life, Bart only needed three hours of sleep to be fully energized. He knew other speedsters liked to sleep long, like Grandpa Barry and Uncle Wally. Bart guessed it was because they used to be plain humans. Bart's father and aunt needed six hours to be fully functional.

Anyways, Bart had his three hours and was bored. No one was awake. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to take a lap around the city. The Tornado Twins allowed Bart to speed around when he was restless, but this was 2017. People were much more, more, scared and reserved.

People were scared in 2091, but they were used to the chaos of heroes and villains. Here, it was new to them all. The Justice League hadn't even been founded yet! That's when the world truly embraced its crazy.

Bored of the etch-a-sketch, Bart set it aside and decided to text Jaime to see if the older teen was awake. Jaime was- oh god what can Bart say about Jaime?

He was ridiculously cute. With his shaggy black hair and little beard on his chin. He was awkward and polite and taller than Bart. Jaime had a cute accent that made certain words he said sound adorable. Bart knew that Jaime wasn't into him. That didn't mean Bart couldn't dream. Oh! Dream has Bart have.

Bart has thought of the older boy hugging him. Maybe give him a kiss on the cheek or forehead. Bart had even thought of what a whole relationship between the two of them could be like. It was unhealthy and sad of him to do that, but he couldn't help it. Bart liked Jaime so much.

But, like he said, he knew Jaime didn't feel the same way. If it wasn't because Jaime wasn't into guys or was from earlier years that was largely homophobic, it could be the age gap. Jaime was nearly eighteen. An adult. He kept reminding Bart that he's younger by calling him 'kid' and giving him noggies like he's a child. It made Bart hurt, made those little butterflies inside his tummy scratch his throat and chest, but whatever. He shouldn't think about it.

It's hard not to think about something when he can have a hundred thoughts a minute.

Bart set down the old iPod Grandma Iris gave him, remembering that a text wouldn't go through, Jaime had a burner phone, and the dude was a clumsy typer.

Ugh. Lying on the bed, Bart stared at the little glowing green stars that were previously part up by Grandpa Barry. He stretched up his arms and closed his eyes. Stars danced across his vision.

He grabbed the iPod, put on a pair of earbuds, and listened to some music. Whenever something he enjoyed came on, he mouthed along. Sometimes he opened his eyes and moved his arms about in a type of dance with only arms. His hands intertwined and flew around in a flurry of movements.

Music made everything slow down for Bart. He could listen to hours worth of songs, and it didn't feel as tough it was slow like time normally felt for him.

Before he knew it, the green stars stopped its insistent glowing and the sun was making her way up in the sky. Bart plugged his iPod to charge and ran into the kitchen, opting to phase through the door than bothering to open it.

Since nobody else was awake, Bart decided to make breakfast. He had a pot of coffee brewing and about ten pancakes and two packages of bacon made when Papa Joe came stumbling in. He was already dressed for work.

"Mmmm. Smells good Bar," Papa Joe yawned as he piled his plate up.

Bart grinned and pushed up his pajama sleeves that were threatening to fall into pancake batter. "Grandma Iris's recipe! She hasn't told anyone other than me how she makes it so darn good."

Papa Joe chuckled, nearly choking on a piece of bacon. "Iris? Cooking? Barry's the one that feeds her."

Bart slid some more pancakes onto a plate, head cocked to the side. "Uh- yeah. It's Grandpa Barry who cooks. I guess. Grandma Iris learned in the other timeline to." Bart shook his head and went back to cooking. "Having two memories majorly sucks Papa."

His great-grandfather wiped his mouth with a napkin. "We'll set things right. If not for us, for you. You obviously care for Barry or you wouldn't have made this effort."

Maybe he made an effort to arrive, but ever since he has arrived it has been all fun. Shopping, wedding planning, staring at cute boys. Bart stared absently at the food he was cooking. He needed to be more serious, even if the murder wasn't for another six months.

Uncle Wally woke up just as Papa Joe was off to work. Papa gave Bart a kiss on the forehead and a "be good Impulse." He gave Wally a fist bump and a "have a good day." The two speedsters waved bye and proceeded to eat.

"You have school today?" Bart asked as he attempted to stuff a whole pancake into his mouth.

Uncle Wally gave him a look before shrugging and saying, "Yeah. You going to help Cisco training Jaime?"

Bart shrugged and sipped at his orange juice. "I don't know. Maybe I'll do my own thing today. My crush on Jaime is kinda lame."

Bart's uncle washed his plate and put it away. He pulled out a few of Cisco's speedster energy bars and handed one to his nephew. "Nothing about you's lame Bart."

Bart speeded and cleaned up the hole mess. He scoffed," Yeah cause my crush is totally going somewhere."

The two speedsters went to their separate rooms to change. Bart pulled on a Flash t-shirt and high-waisted jeans. He flashed back into the living room. As he waited for Uncle Wally, he once again studied the pictures on the mantel. Most were pictures of Papa Joe, Grandma Iris, and Grandpa Barry. There were a few new family photos that had Wally. Some were photos of Team Flash- Wally, Harry Wells,and Jesse Quick in one, H.R. Wells and Julian Albert in another.

"We need one with you and Jaime," Wally's voice came from behind him. "I'm gotta get to class, see ya later?"

Bart gave him wave and speeded out before he could. They ran in the same direction for a few minutes before their paths diverted. S.T.A.R. Labs only (awake) occupant was Cisco, who was watching a movie on his phone.

Bart stole a few licorice from him and sat in front of The Flash suit. Cisco glanced over at him, but stayed silent. Bart speeded back over after a few minutes for more licorice.

"Nuh-uh, don't you dare take any more!" Cisco's hand shot out and slammed on top of the candy bag. "I know you speedsters and your candy consumption. It starts as five and then becomes the whole bag in less than ten minutes."

"This is discriminatory! Just because I am a speedster I am not allowed the basic human right of candy? Preposterous! I will go to court and sue you for all the candies!" Bart groaned back with a pout. The teenager fell to his knees and rolled back to be in front of the suit agin.

Cisco scoffed at him and raised his arms. "Where do you get your dramatics?"

"Speedster gene," was Bart's answer. His cheek was resting on top of his arm, his body in a semi-awkward position for speaking. "Watch out- soon Uncle Wally and Grandpa Barry will be as dramatic as me."

"How's that start?" Cisco raised his eyebrows, clearly interested in the answer.

"Hal Jordan is a trash man who corrupts everyone," Bart simply said with a grin. That was something Grandpa Barry said as a joke. Bart knew Hal Jordan was a Green Lantern, which made sense. Green Lanterns were dramatic as hell.

"I have no idea who that is, but I feel like I will learn and regret it all." Cisco set his phone down and stretched. Well, he wasn't wrong.

They spent the rest of the morning in silence, except for the music Cisco had playing so it wasn't so quiet as he worked in his lab. Bored, Bart eventually stood up and began to dance to the beat.

The music wasn't the kind Bart enjoyed listening to during the early hours of the morning, but it was still fun to play around.

When Jaime came into the room, he looked like he had barely slept the night and had his hair in a messy bun and his tank top showed how nice his arms- ahem. Nope. No thinking crap like that Bart. Even if his arms look like it was made specifically for Bart to ogle at.

"Morning Bar," Jaime yawned and stretched his arms over his head. Long tufts of black underarm hair in full view. While vaguely aware that arm hair is supposed to be gross, Bart wanted to run his fingers through it. It looked soft okay!

Bart stopped dancing, his chest feeling uncomfortable. "Morning."

Jaime really looked at Bart. "Hey nice shirt you dork. They sell those at the store?"

Bart nodded and explained that there's many hero merchandise in stores. Central City had mostly Flash merchandise with some Green Arrow stuff hiding amongst it all at this point of time. "In my time nearly everyone has a Green Lantern t-shirt or Red Hood hat or something."

"What about Impulse?" Jaime asked with a grin. A few stray hairs fell in his face. He sat in front of Bart, sitting criss cross applesauce, chin resting on his hand. "Got any merch of your alter ego?"

Bart shook his head, his long fingers twisting his goggles. "Impulse isn't a household name yet. They call me 'Speedy!' But I'm still young and can make it into the big leagues if I want when I get older."

"Big leagues? Like popular heroes?" Jaime tapped his fingers against his chin. He had shaved either last night or this morning so his face was smooth since the first time they met.

Bart shook his head and stretched his arms up. "There's the JLA and Teen Titans and Young Justice and other teams roaming around the multiverse and this world. Wonder when Kon'll meet Robin. Ha! But yeah there are different teams and organizations for heroes. I hope to join the JLA one day like my family."

The young speedster's gaze fell onto The Flash suit. It didn't seem like anything special. Bart supposed it wasn't. It wasn't special until the man who made The Flash wore it. Barry Allen had an aura around him that shone no matter what.

He exuded security and care and courage with each step he take. One person could take a look at him and feel safe to their core. Bart wanted to be that. He wanted to be like the man he had grown up with; the man he had only ever heard stories of.

___________________

Grandma Iris handed Bart a cup of hot chocolate and settled into the seat next to him. She had the two weeks off working in the office to prepare for the wedding and honeymoon next week. Iris picked up her future grandson from S.T.A.R. Labs and took him with her to Jitters.

"You're simultaneously quiet and fill in all gaps," Grandma Iris had wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed his cheek, "think ya can be my company as I write this boring piece for work?"

Bart agreed. How could he not? His grandmother wanted to spend time with him and she even did that hug thing she always did with Bart and Bart only. Future Iris West he means. She would always wrap his arms around him while standing behind him.

"Barry should be here in a few, unless somebody decides to pull a heist," She set aside a Flash for Barry, who she said had been his regular drink since it was put on the menu. "Barry may not like having things named after him, Iris had explained, but god does he love a good pun."

Oh how Bart wanted to see Grandpa Barry's face when he hears about The Flash Museum!

"I doubt anyone's gonna pull a Captain Cold," Bart took a sip of his hot chocolate and flipped the page of his book.

Iris laughed and began typing on her laptop. "With our luck? Snart's probably back from the dead planning a heist on our wedding day."

Oh. This was when people still thought Leonard Snart was dead from that explosion. He wondered if he should tell his grandfather Captain Cold was alive and kicking, but decided to leave the surprise to the thief himself.

"Hey babe," Barry gave his fiancé a kiss on top of her head. Grandma Iris hummed back. "Hey Bar. This mine?" He pointed to the lone cup of coffee.

Bart nodded as Grandma Iris said, "Your regular, The Flash"

Grandpa Barry grinned as he took a seat and sipped on the coffee. "A great pick me up. And visual pun," he grinned over his cup and winked at Bart.

Bart winked back as Iris groaned. "I am definitely not marrying you for your puns Bartholomew Henry Allen."

Barry laughed loudly, head back, mouth open all the way. "No it's for my six pack and," he wiggles his eyebrows.

Grandma Iris covered her face in her hands. "Please, not in front of Bart."

"Yeah, ew no. Talk about your sex life and I'm outta here so fast y'all both get whiplash." Bart stuck his tongue out at Barry.

"Wow, you two are so gross. I was gonna say my awesome singing skills, but I guess I see where Iris is about my," He waggled his eyebrows again and Bart groaned.

"You're horrible Gran- Uncle Barry. Absolutely horrible. The worst. Top tier villain material. The Rogues should adopt you into their group that's how bad you are ew I'm traumatized for life ugh," Bart held his hands to his chest and dramatically fell onto Iris's lap.

She rolled her eyes. "Who in the world taught you to be such a drama king?"

"Your husband, brother, and your husbands soon-to-be BFF." Bart automatically answered, leaving out Captain Cold, who was known for his extensive dramatics. "Those three are some of the worst."

Iris raised her eyebrows and went back to typing. "Sounds like a horror fest. Oh! Bart, honey, we still have to buy you a tux for the wedding. After I finish this piece, I'll take you to buy something. There's this good suit place not that far away."

Barry stayed for about half an hour, helping Iris update the list for the last minute attendees.

"Still cannot believe you forgot about Supergirl and her friends," Iris shook her head. Black curls bounced in a dance around her shoulders.

Barry looked sheepish as he said, " 'm just glad everyone we care about and who care for us will be here. Or, nearly everyone."

Bart frowned and finished his drink. "Can I give you a spoiler?" At his grandparents affirmative nod, Bart said, "Caitlin Snow will become herself agin, one day. And even with her ice-like exterior, she misses you all."

Barry gave him a sad smile. He left back to work soon afterwards, giving both his soon to be wife and future grandson a kiss on the cheek.

Bart and Iris sat in relative silence for another half hour before Iris emailed her fluff piece to her boss, packed up her things, and told her grandson they were going to get him an outfit for the wedding. Bart followed his grandmother to a store filled with suits and tuxes and ties and dress shoes.

"Can I speed through? It'll make this all go faster. I'll show you what I like." Bart leaned over and whispered into Grandma Iris's ear.

Her answering smile was soft and coy, "Just this once."

Bart giggled under his breath, knowing that this wouldn't be the last time his grandmother told him those words. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have such fun writing Bart! Though, after writing that one-shot about Kon-el I feel more connected to Kon. Though, Bart has this sort of energy that is just nice to write.
> 
> I meant to finish this and post it earlier, but I totally got distracted by a show haha
> 
> Okay, this has nothing to do with this, but dude I stayed up until almost 4 am reading Redhead's fic Got A Melodramatic Temperament and boy am I mcfreaking dying Redhead is such a good writer. 
> 
> Anyways! I'm hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! please comment , subscribe, etc!


	8. I've Made Some Friends and Lost Some Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You know nothing Hal Jordan." 
> 
> "Is that a Game of Thrones reference?" 
> 
> "I'm sorry, I have no idea what that is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Cecilia and the Satellite by Andrew McMahon

Oliver didn't mean to take in Hal Jordan. He didn't even mean to talk to him. Pretty people were always a weakness on him; Laurel, Felicity, Sara, Tommy, many other women and men he had met and forgotten their names. They would flash him a smile and Oliver was halfway through doing anything they wanted (in retrospect, he should have seen Felicity using him for her own agenda).

Hal had gave one smug looking grin and Oliver knew he had one foot in the fucking grave.

His pretty face was almost deterred by his less than winning personality. Almost. He had a knack for pushing Oliver's buttons, but he also was incredibly smart and determined to do his part for the world. Oliver admired that.

And fuck, Oliver may be completely in the motions of falling in love with the other man. He found every word out of his mouth interesting and his thoughts always turned to Hal.

His friends were starting to notice. Which, needless to say, was probably one of the worst things to happen to Oliver. They all made comments and eye waggles and were generally all being annoying towards him.

Like this morning? Thea strolled into his office, sat on his desk after explaining a city issue, and said, "So I heard from Rene and John you have a boyfriend."

Oliver nearly spat out the coffee he was drinking (it was The Flash drink from CC Jitters, Barry had made a run over to catch up and make sure Oliver had everything ready for the wedding day). He glowered at his little sister. "Rene and John are liars who hate me."

Thea laughed loudly and clutched her stomach. "Oh my god! That was young Ollie all the way! John showed me a pic, he's really handsome. You should tap that ass."

"What? Ew no. Can we please not talk about my- my love life?" Oliver spread out his arms and frowned at her.

Thea tilted her head to the side before straightening her jacket. "No. I didn't even know you being into guys was a thing!"

Oliver raised an eyebrow. He had never told Thea? He thought she might have known, that someone would have told her. "Um. I was in a relationship with Tommy for a while. I thought you knew that. Or, well, I thought Mom told you."

Thea gasped and punched his arm. "What! You dated my half-brother! Oh my god ew my brothers dated each other, but you know it's not incest, but still ew. When was this even?"

Oliver rubbed his arm and squinted up at the ceiling. "We were fourteen? Yeah, fourteen."

Thea nodded and shook her head. "Okay, so I didn't know because I was only four. Huh. You'd think Mom would have freaked to have her son making out with her daughters brother."

"Please stop reminding me that you two were siblings," Oliver laughed. "Now, let's go back to work. We can talk later."

Thea stood up and ran a hand through her hair. "Fine. But only because I have dirt on you now that I may or may not tell the others!" She sang as she exited the room.

Absolutely horrifying. The only thing that topped that conversation was the awkward one his father had given him after walking into Oliver with his tongue halfway down Tommy's throat.

Oliver smiled sadly and returned to work, his mind on pretty boys, past and present.

__________________

"City's been surprisingly quiet the last few days," Curtis yawned into his hand. His face was leaned forward, his face was so near the computer his nose touched the screen. "I hate doing all the hack work. We need to recruit someone new for this."

Oliver crossed his arms and said, "How quiet it is worries me. Especially since I'm going to Barry's wedding soon. I don't want to be out of town and hear that Slade Wilson is somehow strolling down Main Street."

"You shouldn't worry Oliver. I'm here and so is Dinah, Rene, and that new boyfriend of yours." Curtis gave Oliver a cheeky grin. Rather childishly Oliver responded by socking his arm as fast as he could. "Ow! What the frack Oliver!"

Dinah, who was sitting on one of the tables playing with a knife, said, "Don't tease him Curtis. He's sensitive."

Oliver shot her the bird. Dinah just scoffed and held up both hands. Just then Roy walked out of the elevator, saw Dinah, and promptly did the same gesture.

"This for Ollie? I live for this shit," he lowered his hands and grabbed his suit. "Imma head out to patrol anyone wanna come?"

Dinah stood up and stretched. "Yeah, sure. I can take a break from teasing Oliver. Though I do want to know if you've finally kissed Jordan."

Roy raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Yeah Ollie, how's it with Green Spandex? You two fuck yet?" Oliver just crossed his arms and glared as Roy made another crude gesture. "Ugh fine. Don't tell."

While Roy and Dinah went to change, Oliver sat on the table next to Curtis and watched him play a game of solitaire. Curtis gave Oliver a side look.

"Look, uh, Oliver. I know we aren't close or anything really, but do you wanna talk? I mean, cause, it seems being with guys is new to you and your wiki page doesn't even have you listed as bi or whatever and I'm shutting up now." Curtis scratched behind his ear and awkwardly smiled at the computer screen.

Oliver stared at him for a second before saying "I've slept with a few guys, don't worry Curtis. As for my wiki page I didn't even know I had one?"

Curtis blinked and cried out "Oliver! How do you not- I cannot believe you! Okay, I'm gonna show you right now this instant. It is honestly preposterous you haven't seen your own wiki page, I have a very some one that I personally love staring at."

The two spent a good hour going through Wikipedia. They read Oliver's page, which had links to his family members and even the Green Arrow, who was cited as someone he's been accused of being. Going through the Green Arrow page was interesting- it listed all his partners, names of who he possibly was, and everything he has ever been apart of (as far as the public is aware of).

"Huh, so this is why Hal figured out my secret so fast," Oliver laughed, only slightly worried. Only two people had figured out his identity, Nathaniel Heywood and Hal. They were both highly intelligent and were actively searching for clues. Oliver doubted others had the same conviction as Heywood or Hal.

"We aren't exactly that subtle. Honestly, I'm not even sure how The Flash still has a secret identity." Curtis clicked onto the Mr. Fantastic page, a large grin on his face.

Oliver read the small article. "He doesn't. Everyone knows who he is, it's just common curtesy in Central to pretend they don't know for the sake of Barry's pride and puppy dog eyes. In fact, Cisco and Snart are head of the committee to keep people from letting Barry know they know his secret."

Curtis furrowed his eyebrows, mouth agape as he turned to the other man. "Is- is that true? I have no idea if you're lying or not and it's scaring me."

Oliver smirked, "Guess you'll have to move to out to Missouri to find out."

They went back to looking at Wikipedia pages, Curtis side eyeing Oliver the whole time as he tried to figure out if he was joking or not. It was pretty hilarious.

After Lian Yu and all the shit that went on in Oliver's life, he stopped being big on jokes and, well, fun in general. There seemed to have been no point to it all.

It wasn't until recently that Oliver realized he was isolating himself. He somehow had more friends, real friends, than ever. Yet, he pushed them out by being gruff and tortured and reminded of the past. Oliver had enough within him to admit it was rooted in the PTSD he tried to convince everyone and their mother he didn't have.

After several long talks with John, Oliver was starting to feel more... secure and sure. A bit more of, as Thea would say, 'young Ollie' was shining through. Oliver didn't feel like the person, the thing, he had been for a decade of his life.

Hal helped too. Maybe that's why he was so fond of him. He didn't know distant, angst ridden, broody Oliver 'Arrow' Queen. He was helping him become the person Oliver hadn't seen in a while. Maybe someone new. Who knows.

Curtis turned to Oliver and, as though he knew Oliver's thoughts, said "I'm glad things have been getting better for you Oliver. For so long it was hard to get to know you and now you crack jokes like second nature."

Oliver smiled softly. "I think everything with Felicity helped me realize the mistakes I've made in my relationships. Now enough on me. How's Paul?"

___________________

"So, are we going to fuck now?" Hal said with that wicked wide grin of his, rolling his hips up against Oliver's.

Oliver but his lip to keep himself from groaning. He propelled himself off of Hal, which means he basically rolled the fuck off of the other man.

Hal burst out laughing. "Oh my god you! Who ever said Green Arrow was a moody fuck lied I cannot believe I just saw that with my own eyes!"

Oliver groaned and covered his eyes with his arm so he wouldn't glance and see the pretty face of Hal fucking Jordan. "You know nothing Hal Jordan."

Hal hummed. "Is that a Game of Thrones reference?"

Oliver's lips twitched as he said, "I'm sorry, I have no idea what that is."

He heard Hal's hand slap against the training mat and a scramble to sit up. "Shut up! You're either lying and have been living under a rock since you came back! I know about Game of Thrones and I only watched like the first season before I left!"

Oliver laughed and dropped his hand from his face. "I've watched it don't worry. When Felicity found out I never watched it she made me binge watch it with her. Enough about this and whatever that was earlier. We're training Hal."

Hal stuck his tongue out, "Lame. Whatever let's do this shit. So, your friends wedding is in a few days huh?"

Oliver nodded and stood back up. "Yeah. I'm leaving Dinah and Roy in charge by the way so if anything happens, call them."

Hal began to swing at Oliver, the two once again sparring. Oliver went to ouch the man's stomach, but Hal swiftly sidestepped and brought his knee up.

"So, when do we get to have sweet, sinful sex?" Hal asked as he wiped his sweaty forehead, hands held up loosely.

Oliver pretended to think hard for a minute, "Buy me Big Belly Burger and I'll think about it." Hal laughed, leaving himself wide open.

"Ow! You asshole!" Hal howled out although he was still grinning.

Oliver did not mean to gather feelings for this man. He was arrogant and loud and a little obnoxious. But he was also interesting and intelligent and handsome and wasn't quite like anyone else Oliver had met. It was no surprise Oliver had fallen for him so fast.

As they stepped out to change into clean clothes, Oliver turned his head a bit and brushed his lips against Hal's cheek. Hal's eyes fluttered closed and he gave a dreamy sigh.

"You're better than I thought Queen."

Hal reached up and lightly rubbed his hand against Oliver's stubble. Oliver leaned into the touch. Hal's thumb touched the corner of Oliver's lips. Not quite sure what to do, Oliver reached his tongue out and licked his thumb. Hal laughed out loud.

"Weird?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.

Hal shook his head and said, "Hot. Thought we were waiting for after Big Belly's? And, you know, after we're both clean?"

Oliver felt as the back of his neck burned in embarrassment. It's been a while he's done something like this. He gave Hal a chaste kiss on the nose and whispered against his lips, "I change my mind."

Hal threw his head back and howled out a groan. "One day! One day! I lied, you're the literal worst."

They laughed against each other's mouths, not quite connected, but together. When was the last time Oliver had been this happy with someone? It was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Hope you enjoyed this installment of TIOLNA! tbh I was feeling rlly uninspired to write Hal and I nearly just cut it out but I didn't want to since I have a whole flow kinda going along. 
> 
> I decided to write about Oliver since what was coming out with Hal was just??? Bad. I had fun with this one, even if it doesn't rlly flow as nicely as I hoped lol
> 
> I totally didn't mean for Hal/Ollie to be a thing in this fic but it just kinda happened and I'm not about to fight it so... 
> 
> I feel like I need to explain more about what Ollie is going through so... currently in the show, Ollie realizes how he is harmful to the world around him and himself. He isn't a killer and he isn't proud. Then (Now into this fic), Felicity turns into a new person, a worse person, and Ollie can't help but feel it is his fault. He began his 'crusade' and is bringing people into then same mindset as him. This realization causes him to try to fix himself, to become better. He is trying to change, but has felt awkward about it until Hal showed up.
> 
> Tell me how you feel about this fic and what you'd like to see! I love hearing from people it makes my day! 
> 
> Next up we'll see how my boy Jaime is faring in Central City!


	9. Sunshine Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're like Abuela with her disposable camera." 
> 
> "When I was your age, disposable cameras were all we had!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up for some more internalized homophobia with Jaime, nothing bad this chapter

"I got your photos," Milagro said right as she answered the phone. "You're like Abuela with her disposable camera," she laughed. "How are you Jaime?"

Jaime grinned and leaned back against the plain white wall, with only one large colorful flower Bart made for Jaime pinned up near wear his head rested. "When I was your age, disposable cameras were all we had! And I'm good! Wait, did you see all of them? Me with The Flash and his whole team?"

Jaime heard a squeak as Milagro no doubt rolled over in her bed. "I did! Imma buy some nice frames and hang them up on my wall. It's so cool Jaime. Dad is proud. Sad, but proud. He cried when he saw them all."

Jaime hummed and scratched his neck. "I feel horrible for leaving you two-"

"Don't. So much has changed for you in such little time. We understand why you had to leave." Milagro's voice was slightly wet. "Just. Visit when you can. Have one of those Flash boys flash you over."

Jaime nodded. "Milagro? Can I- can I ask you something?"

"Anything." Her voice was a bit muffled and there was another shifting noise.

"How o- you know what never mind, it doesn't even matter," Jaime chocked out a laugh and shook his head.

Was he seriously going to ask his later sister about how things had changed in a certain community of people since he was gone? He already knew the answer- it was better. People were open and no one cared one bit. Only assholes cared. Jaime felt like a freaking asshole.

"Are you dating anyone? How's school? You're graduating this year, huh?" Jaime asked, staring at the copies of the pictures he sent to his family that he had on the desk next to the bed. He was going to tape them up with the flower.

Milagro must have sat up fast by the sound Jaime heard. "I'm so scared to graduate you have no idea!" She began talking about school and how she felt rushed and that even though it was November time would fly and how she still didn't quite know what she wanted to do.

Jaime listened quietly. Not too long ago that's exactly what he had worried about. That was taken from him, everything he wanted, everything he was stressed about. There was no way he could go to school and make his family proud like he wanted. He wasn't going to be a dentist. He felt the beetles whispers and tingle to spread out. The more Jaime used it, the more responsive it became.

Jaime must have sighed out loud because Milagro stopped speaking for a second.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." She suddenly whispered, the wet in her voice back. "I- I hate not being sure of myself. You always knew what you wanted and where you were going. I feel like your life was stolen! You don't deserve what's happening to you at all!"

"Milagro calm down, it's fine. I got dealt a bad hand." Jaime tried his best to sound alright. "I'm so happy and proud of you, who cares if I didn't get to do what I wanted? I always cared more about you."

He turned away from the pictures and rubbed the fabric of his sweatpants. They talked for a few more minutes before saying "I love you" and hanging up.

It was a two days before the wedding. Jaime was worried about how the city would fare, but Barry assured him that the cops were more than capable in dealing with issues.

"Plus, nearly all the superheroes will be in town if something does need our attention," He had said with that cheeky, cocky grin of his. It was somehow endearing.

Jaime didn't know them all very well, but Bart was fond of Jaime and Cisco had taken a liking to him since he was the only other Mexican 'hero.' Cisco often stayed the night at STAR Labs and hung out with Jaime. It was nice. They've been watching movies and shows Jaime had missed the last ten years.

Jaime set the phone down, grabbed a roll of tape, and began to tape the pictures up on the wall. He set them wherever, no real pattern to it. One was the first photo he took with the stickers on his face. Another of Jaime with Bart playing on the newest version of the Nintendo DS (it's called a 3DS and its graphics were so good and could look 3D). Another of Jaime and The Flash, Jaime wearing his armor. Candid shots that others took of Jaime playing around or looking mildly serious.

He liked all the pictures. There was something quietly beautiful of each one. Jaime wasn't poetic or anything, but it made him happy, like he was real. He was real. This was real. He was here.

Jaime taped up the last picture; himself grinning with the blur of Bart right next to him. You could just make out a large, white toothed grin.

_______________________

They were moving oddly slowly, maybe they were moving too fast, who knows. Everything and everyone around was moving slowly, as though they were underwater and couldn't move quite as they wanted.

Jaime could move just fine. Ahead of him, Bart was dancing around. He stood in the middle of the large crowd that walked their way slowly down the sidewalk. He wore a bright white suit, as white as the grin he gave Jaime when he noticed him.

Bart held out his arms and made movements, rapid dance movements that beckoned for Jaime to walk towards him and move along with him.

Jaime's mouth opened to laugh and Bart's stupid movements. Nothing came out, but he paid no attention as he moved his legs. As fast as he could towards the shining light that was Bart Allen.

Right as Jaime skidded in front of the younger boy, Bart stopped dancing. They stared at each other for who knows how long before Bart moved forward slowly, like the people surrounding them, slower than Jaime had ever seen Bart move. His hand rested on Jaime's cheek.

Jaime opened his mouth to say "you're beautiful you know" but nothing came out. He tilted his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows. Bart let go of Jaime and shook his head.

"You're never really tell me that. You're a fucking coward." Bart's voice hissed out as a scowl formed on his face. "Leave me the fuck alone."

He moved. Suddenly, the people surrounding them moved too. The hustle and bustle of everyday people pushed past Jaime until he lost sight of Bart and his shining exterior.

Jaime woke up with tears streaming down his face. He quickly wiped them and failed to fall back to sleep.

_____________________

Seeing Bart after his weird dream made Jaime feel a little awkward. Why couldn't he have forgotten that dream like every other dream he normally has? What even was that about?

Even if Jaime liked Bart a little it was... weird! Ignoring that Bart's a boy and Jaime still didn't want to touch his sexuality with a ten foot pole, Bart was fourteen. Jaime was seventeen. He was nearly an adult. Bart was still a kid. It was gross. He'd seen other people at school, seniors who dated freshman. They used them; the almost adults used the kids.

Yeah, Jaime would never do that crap, but he'd know others would think it and it just made him downright uncomfortable. Dating a thirteen, fourteen, fifteen year old? They are children. They still need to take time to fugues themselves out.

Bart was still a kid. Bart was a boy. Whatever Jaime's dream was about was a horrible joke he didn't need.

Bart seemed to sense Jaime's mood because he just sat and watched Jaime train with his armor on.

"Great job Blue Beetle!" Bart yelled out after he finished. He sped over to Jaime. The beetle whispered. It basically wanted to shoot Bart because of whatever bodily reaction Jaime was having. Oh my God the freaking beetle knew!

"Thanks Bar," Jaime stretched as the armor retracted back inside his back. "Those people from the other universe are coming today, huh? Oh Dios, what a weird sentence!" He laughed.

Bart grinned and nodded. "Yeah! Cisco's gonna open a portal in a bit. I can't believe imma be a part of my grandparents wedding! Tomorrow and the last is sealed."

What odd lives they all lived. Jaime pat the speedsters head and said, "Must be cool, seeing them so in love as young and old." Bart hummed in response.

Jaime glanced down at the younger boy. His eyes were closed and he leaned into Jaime's touch. Jaime sighed and left his hand on Bart's head. No harm done.

Eventually, Jaime lifted his hand and said that he wanted to see the portal being opened. Bart smiled, a mix of sad and happy (sappy), and said, "Race ya."

Immediately, Bart was out of sight. Jaime laughed putt loud and found himself in a fit of giggles for no apparent reason. That dork. He tried to calm down as he sped walk over to the room known as the breach room.

Bart was, of course, already there. He held out a bottle of water to Jaime, who took it with a grateful smile.

"I won." Bart grinned.

"By cheating!" Jaime made a discreet rude gesture at the kid as he opened the water bottle. Bart grinned and leaned forward in a quick laugh.

Bart wiped his shoulders like he had dirt on them. "Losers truly are weepers." Jaime told him to shut up with a laugh and playfully pushed his shoulder.

Jaime noticed Barry watching them with a smile. Jaime gave him a small wave. "Excited about tomorrow?"

Barry scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Been a long time coming. It's exciting."

Cisco strolled in, gloves and glasses on. "Yes, yes. True love prevails time, space, and evil speedsters! Okay! Ready to pick up the crew from Earth-38? I'm gonna go in alone, be back in a few."

"Be safe!" Barry called out with a grin as Cisco opened up a portal (with his hands that is so cool!) and stepped inside. It immediately closed.

They stood there for a second before Bart turned to his grandfather and sped talked. Bart did that a lot, especially with other speedsters or when he forgot people couldn't understand him when his lips flapped faster than the speed of light.

Barry tilted his head to the side. Soon, his mouth was moving just as fast. The noise coming out was like when you fast forward a VHS tape. Jaime smacked his lips, shrugged, and watched them. It wasn't long before they stopped.

"What's the chisme about?" Jaime teased Bart. Bart rolled his eyes, but was saved from answering as the portal opened up and a group of people carrying bags stepped out.

And the wedding was officially underway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This didn't take me too long to write? I think it's a bit shorter than other chapters tho
> 
> And yay! The wedding is finally here! This is where a lot of my plans for the fic really come into action!!
> 
> Yes, a enjoy writing fluffy things, most of everything I write will be fluff (tho I am working on a Kara one shot with Volcana still and have an idea that is the literal opposite of fluff). I love my fav characters being happy so imma do it as much as I can. 
> 
> Next chapter- Super Team arrives on Earth-1, the wedding begins in a day.
> 
> Ps: if you don't know chisme means gossip in Spanish (so that means when someone calls you a chismoso/chismosa they've calling you are a gossiper)


	10. You See What You Want To See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Someone called us the f word. So Jaime defended our honor like a true hero." 
> 
> "Fuck? Now what's so bad 'bout that? Do they breed kids more sensitive nowadays?" 
> 
> "No you idiot. The kid means the slur. So. Which of you punched the jackass who insulted you all? Good job kid. Anyone hit you where you're proud, hit them harder."

A nervous tingle settled in between Kon's shoulder blades as he finished packing what he needed for two days in another dimension for a wedding (huh, Kon was pretty sure Lex never thought that thought would came to the clones mind).

It wasn't the whole leaving the place he knew, it was more a silent fear of screwing up something. It didn't help that he hadn't had much interaction with humans- people. It was just damned scary.

Winn said he was just nervous in social situations. "It's alright, everyone gets that way Kon!" He had said with that bright smile of his. Kon just. Felt uncomfortable being around people. Sure, he warmed up to his aunt and her friends pretty easily, but they were lovable people who loved easily themselves.

Kon-el set his bag of clothes on his bed and willed himself to keep calm. He straightened his back and took a deep breath. He was fine. Everything was fine.

A knock on his door caused him to jump in surprise. He was so busy thinking, he hadn't heard anyone come near. He twisted and saw through the metal door that Alex was the one who knocked. She stood stock straight, her hands behind her back.

"Come in!" Kon called out as he slung the bag full of necessary items across his shoulders. Alex opened the door slightly.

"Hey Kon. You done packing?" Alex pat her own little black suitcase next to her. Kon nodded. "Got pajamas? A nice outfit to wear at the wedding?"

"Yup and yup. Imma wear that dress you bought me." Kon gave her a small smile. "Thanks again for that, uh, Aunt Alex." Crap should he have called her his aunt? Plus wasn't she and Kara more like his second cousins?

Alex held her hand over her mouth, a smile obviously on her lips despite her efforts of hiding it. "You're going to make me cry, you sweet little chickadee. 'Aunt' huh? Makes me feel old."

The two began to walk down the hall towards the main room. Kon-el grabbed Alex's bag for her, despite her light protests.

"You'd've heard it eventually, what with how lovey dovey her and Jimmy are," Kon stuck out his tongue and make a vomit sound.

Alex stopped walking for a second, making one of her weird, expressive faces. "Can. Kryptonians and humans even? Copulate and create little halfbreed children?" She cringed at her own words and began to walk again.

Kon-el pursed his lips as he thought. He wasn't quite sure. "I exist, but it's not like Lex and Clark had sex for me to happen. Which, ew. I have it in my head now and I legit never needed that. Imma go puke in that potted plant." He pointed towards one of the plants kept in the hallway to lively up the place.

Alex snorted and laughed out, "It's even worse than Kara and James!"

Kon shuddered. "It. Uh it's probably possible. The babies thing. Our body structure is similar. Of course, we are strong against human viruses and such. It's possible Clark could get Lois pregnant, but Kara's body would kill any little spermies that try to fertilize before they even have a chance." He simply shrugged.

Kon wondered if he, a hybrid, could produce children. His physiology was, technically, mostly Kryptonian, since their gene's dominant. That being said, he could probably impregnate a female aligned person if they both wished to. Of course, he was still young and did not need or want the burden of children.

However, there was no certain way to know if Kon would actually age. The clone process in the pod had artificially aged Kon to a teenager within months. Without the pod there was a possibility he wouldn't actually age physically. There was no way to know, not yet. Maybe he should ask Alex to take a look at his DNA and see if she could figure it out.

Alex scoffed, bringing Kon out of his thoughts. "You were being pretty clinical and intelligent sounding until you said 'spermies.' Never in my thirty years have I heard someone say 'spermies!' You're a complete dork Kon-el." She flicked his bare arm.

Well, he didn't want to say sperm. It was just so. Gross and sad sounding (surprisingly, the Kryptonian equivalent of the word 'sperm' was actually quite lovely to hear). Too clinical, Kon supposed. He was tired of clinical. That's all he ever was while learning with Lex.

"They're like tadpoles, right? So they have to be a little cute?" Kon said instead with a winning smile. Alex just rolled her eyes. They were already in the main room. The rest who were leaving for Earth-1 were there, laughing amongst each other.

"There he is! Come on Kon! We just got a dimensional text from Cisco, I still cannot believe we were able to make it work, but we have and my mind is reeling. Anyways! Cisco said he'll be here in a few." Winn held up the modified cell phone. Lyra, his girlfriend, rolled her eyes and gave him a kiss on the cheek, muttering about cute nerds.

Ugh.

Kon turned his head and sat on one of the free chairs. Alex took her suitcase, lightly massaged his shoulder blade as though she knew his pain, and strolled over to where her girlfriend stood.

"Excited to go to another dimension?" Kara asked with a small laugh, facing Kon-el.

Kon shrugged, not really sure how to answer her. "It's weird? Not the weirdest, I guess?"

Lyra scoffed and used her long nails to wipe her newly dyed pink bangs from her eyes. "I agree with the little bird."

Little bird? When had these adults decided that they would call Kon by various bird nicknames? Not that he minded, he just wanted to understand. He didn't think he looked remotely anything like a small bird.

"Aliens are one thing, but inter-dimensional travel?" Maggie let out a low whistle. "Wild. Never thought something like this would happen."

Just as those words left her mouth, a pop sounded. A portal opened up, and out came Cisco, wearing those clunky glasses and a smile. The portal stayed open, just a large hole in the universe.

"You all set? Got your pj's and toothbrushes?" The long haired man asked, his eyebrow raised as he glanced around. "Okay, I am Cisco Ramon, your friendly portal opener today. Nothing harmful will happen if you go through the portal; it's safer than time travel, thank God. On the other side, we will see three young men awaiting our arrival. Shall we?"

Kon-el jumped to his feet, or, well, not really. In his excitement, he lost a bit of his control and instead of landing on his feet, Kon ending up a foot in the air. He snorted at himself and made movements like walking on stairs before he was on the ground again.

"Wicked! Gotta say the speedster thing, it gets kinda old. But that," Cisco said as he pointed at Kon and made a gesture. He then shook his head and turned to the portal, like he hadn't opened that up and it wasn't awesome as hell.

Honestly, Kon didn't know what he thought walking through a portal would be like. They stepped through, avoided looking at anywhere other than straight ahead, and jumped forward when Cisco said to.

It was a bit disorienting, but Kon-el had felt worse when Clark had rescued him from Cadmus and he had flown for the first time in the sky. Kon had nearly puked on Clark and his vision was doubled for almost an hour.

He blinked rapidly a few times to clear his head before he glanced around. The room was large, possibly a lab. Well, most likely a lab. Kara said The Flash worked out of a place called STAR Labs. Kon spotted Barry, Bart, and another teenager in a baggy blue sweatshirt.

Immediately, Bart was in front of Kon, giving him a quick hug before his mouth sped open and words tumbled out. Kon only caught it all due to his powers . "Let's go do something fun! Grandpa Barry won't let me fight crime yet- do you have your suit yet? Imma take that look as a no. Anyways, let's go. There is this mall that sells really really good food and cute clothes I think would totally be your style. Though, I don't know I've only seen you in one outfit- two now- what are you gonna wear for the wedding? Grandma Iris and Papa Joe bought me one of those cool suit with suspenders and everything, wait okay, sorry sorry, I'll shut up."

The other teen rolled his eyes and stood a little bit away, "What did you even say kid? Not all of us have super speed."

"Okay, nah I heard it all," Kon smiled wide, "Okay so. Dude I'd love to go to the mall, I love food and clothes. That is basically all what my life is right now, until I officially become Superboy. Winn is still in the process of making my suit, should be ready soon. And I'm going to wear this dress I got, hold up let me show you." He dug through his pocket and fished out his phone.

The picture of him in a dress was a bit up there on his camera roll. Who could blame Kon for wanting so many pictures of himself when he was this darn adorable? He found it and showed it to Bart, who smiled.

"It's hella cute right?" Kon grinned back. He turned to Kara, who was talking to the other adults, but still obviously keeping an ear towards him. "Kara, can I borrow some money?"

His aunt turned towards him, hands on her hips, lips turned upward. She tilted her head to the side and breathed out of her teeth. "The mall costs a lot and I don't have that much on me right now so-"

Kara was cut off by Alex holding out her hand, two perfectly straight bills in her hand. "Let your awesome Aunt Alex treat you." She had a smirk, Maggie rolling her eyes behind her muttering about being that aunt.

Kara huffed as Kon grabbed the money. He looked at them as he folded them up- two perfect hundred dollar bills. Kon grinned, giving her a thumbs up. Alex winked back.

"You be good, don't go overboard!" Kara said in her Supergirl voice, hands on hips.

The teen pushed back his hair before wrapping an arm around Bart. "No promises Mom."

~~~~~

Kara watched as Kon-el skipped out of the room with Bart and the young man Barry said was named Jaime. She turned to her sister with a frown. She wondered if this was how Jeremiah felt when Eliza let Kara and Alex get away with something.

"How much money did you give Kon? You know if it's over twenty he'll buy a whole closet worth of clothes." She so didn't mean to scold Alex, but. Kara was supposed to be the cool aunt. They were going to kick evil butt together, but so far, it seemed as though Kon was more fond of Alex than her.

It hurt. Way more than Kara ever thought it would, to see an obvious divide of affection.

Alex rolled her eyes, hands in her black jeans back pockets. "Kara calm down. Kon-el is a sixteen year old kid who was born less than a year ago and has no real experiences. Let him run around and buy all the make-up and clothes as he wants."

Like this here! Alex knew what Kon would want. And yeah, Kara wouldn't be surprised if he bought make-up, he was constantly watching tutorials and if Kara had some she didn't use. But. It's the principle of the matter.

"Wow. This is a real role reversal." Kara pursed her lips. She could still remember when Alex wouldn't let Kara go anywhere alone.

"He-ey," Winn called out, hands wringing, mouth tight, "you guys can argue later? Right?"

Kara felt what was close to a blush, but knew it wouldn't show. Usually they walked away before starting a mini fight. She nodded, more to herself than to the others. "Right, sorry."

"Um- wait, no, before we move on. Kara. You were twelve years old with no knowledge of earth and its customs when you lived with us. Kon, he- he knows so much! He had a photographic memory and can go on a whole explanation on why Kryptonian males may have children with humans, but females can't, reciting it all like it's textbook knowledge. Kara, Kon-el is nothing like you. I give him two hundred bucks to be a kid, he's fine. He understands how the world works."

Alex had her pleading face. Oh! Kara sighed, knowing she was right. Kon was a smart kid, who-

"You gave Kon-el," Kara started to say, "the possible shopaholic, two hundred bucks?"

She turned to Barry, who was covering his mouth in his hand, an obvious attempt to hide his large grin, which was still showing. He brought his hands up in a shrug, grin visible.

"Let the boys live. He'll probably sure with Jaime and Bart." The speedster pat his thigh before going still, eyes widening. "No, he didn't..."

In a flash, Barry fished out his own wallet, which was empty, except for a single piece of paper. Cisco and Winn laughed at his clueless face.

"What's it say?" Several people asked as once as Barry read the paper, shaking his head.

"You've been bamboozled. Winky face, heart, lightning bolt." Barry frowned as he folded the paper back up. "How does my future son deal with him?"

The group slowly made their way to the cortex, where Kara immediately saw Iris. She had never really met or talked to Iris before (musical hallucination does not count), but heard plenty from Barry.

Iris West was stunning. Her makeup was perfect, her nails long and painted precisely. Her black hair was in a fishtail braid and little locks curled around her ears. She wore a soft looking red sweater that matched her nails and equally soft looking black jeans, her boots knee high and heeled.

Iris West looked like a model. And, yeah, Barry was cute. Really cute. Especially when he grinned and his little dimples showed. They made such a couple. There was no doubt their children would be beautiful- Bart was a handsome young man just like his grandparents.

"Supergirl!" Iris breathed out, a large grin showcasing her perfect white teeth. Kara felt momentarily blinded. "I nice to finally properly meet you."

James gave Kara a knowing look, eyebrow raised and grin large, as Kara stumbled a reply back. "Y-yeah! I feel like every time I meet new people it's because someone is dying, or they're trying to kill me or my family. Crazy life we all lead. Oh! And call me Kara."

"Kara," the beautiful Iris West (soon to be hyphen Allen) said with that same grin, "what a beautiful name."

"Th-thanks." Kara cleared her throat and pushed up her glasses. Damn. Iris gave Lena a run for her money. "Uh, this is James, my boyfriend."

Iris peeked up, giving James a handshake and a grin. "Nice to meet you."

"Firm handshake you got there," James commented. Kara glanced over, seeing Winn in an intense looking discussion with Cisco and Barry and Alex and Maggie awkwardly talking to a skinny blonde man in a bow tie.

Iris's hands rested on her hips as a sly smile made way on her face, "Comes with being a reporter."  
  
The kryptonian woman stood straighter, words out of her mouth without her thinking, "You're a reporter too!?"

By the time everyone was introduced and having one large conversation on the perks of vigilantism, Kon had returned with the other two teenagers. Kara had no idea why they were so early, but the three of them smelled like sweat and smoke. Vigilante children.

Not long after their arrival, Cisco announced that the Legends were due to arrive at any second.

Kara wrapped her arm around Kon's wide shoulders. "So. Did you have fun at the mall?" She gave her nephew a tight smile.

He groaned and rubbed his temples as Bart laughed, and began to tell their story in super speed that went over Kara's head. They did not in fact go to the mall, so Kon gave Alex her two hundreds back. The Legends team arrived just as Bart said clearly, "Then Jaime punched the dude out!"

Barry choked on air mid hug with Ray Palmer. The two men stared wide eyed at the teenagers. "Wait- you punched someone? Why happened to the mall?"

Kara heard Sara ask "who are the kids" in her strong raspy voice, arms crossed as she glanced curiously at them.

"Someone called us the f word," Bart scrunched up his nose. "So Jaime defended our honor like a true hero."

"Fuck?" Mick Rory raised his arms in an exaggerated shrug, "Now what's so bad 'bout that? Do they breed kids more sensitive nowadays?"

"No you idiot," came a drawling voice that Kara didn't recognize. A handsome man with grey speckled hair, a smirk, and clunky gun strapped to his belt strolled in, draping his body against the doorway. "The kid means the slur."

"Leonard!" Kara watched as Barry's eyes widen and took a small, hesitate step forward.

"Bartholomew!" The man, Leonard, shouted in the same volume as Barry. His smirk widen, until, in a flash of lightning, Barry's arms were around him. His smirk vanished, his eyebrows dropping, his lips in a frown. "What's this Flash?" Kara noticed as his arms tightened a bit around Barry, despite his words.

"Ray said you died." Barry pulled away, glancing at a sheepish looking Ray.

"Time travel," Leonard drawled out, "it goes over all our heads. So. Which of you punched the jackass who insulted you all?" He turned his head towards the kids.

Bart and Kon pointed at Jaime as the boy raised his own hand. Leonard pushed himself off the wall, slowing making his way over. Everybody watched, holding their breath, all unsure what was happening.

He held out his fist once he stopped in front of Jaime. "Good job kid. Anyone hit you were you're proud, hit them harder." Jaime gently bumped his own fist against the man's.

"I just did it because Kon looked like he was about to rip off his head and. He has super strength apparently. So I didn't want him to actually rip off a dudes head." Jaime licked his lips, opened his mouth a few times before shrugging and saying, "Is that word really that bad?"

Bart groaned, his voice near speed as he said, very clearly and level-headed despite how quick his words came out. "Look Jaime, I know you're straight outta 2007, but damn. Even you should know crap like that isn't cool. I know you're lying to yourself or whatever, but I swear to the Speed Force and Wonder Woman that I will tear off your testes from your body."

Kara glanced over at Barry, who looked unsure what to do with the arguing teens. He looked over at his brother-in-law, who sighed, rolled his shoulders, opened his mouth-

Something was growing out of Jaime's back as his face turned red. It was long, blue, and looked a bit like a tentacle. Kara's eyes widened. She remembered seeing that technology while studying back on Krypton. That was Reach technology.

Jaime walked out of the room. Kara and Kon shared a look, and each made a face at each other.

Leonard walked over to stand next to Mick. He crossed his arms and rested them on the man's shoulders, draping himself on him as he said, "Didn't know you were doing teen angst now Barry. Who are the kids?"

"I'm Bart Allen."

Leonard opened his mouth, obviously to make a sarcastic remark, but a man in a brown coat slapped his hands together before pointing at the speedster boy. "I knew you looked familiar! What are you doing here Bart? How were we not notified about you being in this time?"

Bart squinted at the man before speaking, "Must mean it was destined for me to be here. For the wedding, maybe even the League. Who knows."

Kara could feel the animosity between the two; she was pretty sure not even her heat vision could cause it to break. Kon slid over to her, "I thought weddings were calm?"

Kara snorted under her breath and whispered back, "Gatherings always end up with fighting."

She just hoped it stayed with arguments and not combat with villains. She didn't want the big day to be ruined.

Bart was gone in a blink of an eye, and everyone went on as normal. The legends team rounded on the man that arrived with them. Kon stuck to Kara's side, sometimes drifting over to Alex when he got bored of whatever conversation she was having.

"You ready Iris?" Kara asked with a smile during one of their conversations.

Iris grinned beautifully, "I've been waiting for this day since I met Barry. Nothing could make me less ready or excited to finally, officially, be Iris West-Allen."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a while to get this done. I feel like it falls a bit flat, but I think that's mostly cause I haven't touched this in a while and had to pick up where I could. 
> 
> Okay so!!! Kara is so gay for Iris (and Lena). That was fun to write bc honestly???? Same. Len is back and smirky and draping himself over everything while being a Drama King. I love him. I miss him. That episode with him a few weeks ago brought me life, cleared my skin, and kept me hydrated. ALSO he's pan and ready to fight anyone he talks crap. So will mick bc he loves his bff. 
> 
> Next chapter is finally the wedding! I'll write some oneshots of the mall fight and some other loose ends for this chapter so look out for those!
> 
> Pls point out if I have any weird ass spelling errors I write on my phone so sometimes autocorrect goes wild lol
> 
> Thanks for ready ily


	11. Wedding Bells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "They're super cute together. Like, they are that perfect tv couple."
> 
> "I guess. They do have a lot of drama."

The day of the wedding was silent, with a certain thrill in the air. Bart could feel the excitement coursing through him. It made him unable to hold still. He was constantly shaking a leg, tapping his fingers, playing with one of the fidget spinners Cisco made for him.

Everything felt so slow, and Bart wanted it to be time already. To see what his grandmother rarely spoke about. No- no. To see what his grandparents would share loving glances about as they recounted everything. Ugh, Bart hated this so much, he hated how he knew both sides of the coin, but still not everything. Nobody had a clue who killed Barry Allen.

Not the future, not organizations like ARGUS, nobody. It was like whoever killed him was a ghost with no trail.

And- nope. Bart should not be thinking about this, not right now. There was still time. Time to figure it all out. So much time (too little time). Bart could literally time travel or make everything slow down as he sped up. There was time to stop all of this.

"You gonna get dressed?"

Bart looked up, the fidget spinner still working between his fingers. Wally was standing at the foot of the stairs, dressed in a tux with a light lavender bow tie. "Hmm?"

Wally pushed up the white sleeves of his dress shirt, "We have to be over at the barn in half an hour." He gave Bart a pointed look. The young speedster looked down at himself- he was still in his Loony Tunes pajamas Papa Joe bought him.

Bart moved. He hurriedly shoved on his clothes, making it back in the living room before the unattended spinner fell to the floor. He caught it in the hand he held his untied bow tie in. Holding up the bright yellow tie he asked "can ya tie it Walls?"

Wally rolled his eyes at the nickname, but walked over and began to carefully tie it around his nephews neck. He had told Bart several times to not call him 'uncle,' so Bart had decided to call him by random nicknames. Wally finished tying.

"Okay, we're driving today." Wally announced, twirling his car keys around his fingers. He brought his fingers up to his mouth, "C'mon Bart, no whining. You're fourteen years old. You need to get used to car rides."

Bart snorted, but followed him to his car. "Being fourteen has nothing to do with cars. At all. I will never ever never like cars like ever they are so slow."

Wally paused for a second before shaking his head as he opened the door for the drivers seat. "Cars are sweet as hell," he muttered under his breath as he began driving.

If Bart was completely honest, this was the first time he didn't actively complain while in a car. It seemed to drag forever, but Wally put on a radio show that played popular music throughout the ages. That made it not as bad. A song from what Bart recognized from the nineteen-eighties wafted through the speakers.

Bart liked Wally. Always had, always will. He's the one who had trained him, in both versions of the timeline. Grandpa Barry had usually been out and about on League business, or just plain sitting around sweetly with Grandma Iris. Sometimes he joined Wally and the three speedsters would have a race around the Twin Cities.

One of Bart's favorite memories was when he, Barry, Wally, the Tornado Twins, Jai, and Irey all raced together. It would begin as a simple run together, until someone would say or do something that made everyone else speed up. It was so fun.

Bart wondered if they could do that now, soon- a race between the three of them.

"Bart?" Wally's voice was quiet, soft against the harsher toned music. Bart turned as much as he could towards Wally, restricted by the seat belt. Bart noticed that he had his earrings in. He didn't wear them often, but Bart thought they suited him nicely. These ones were crystal earrings, light purple and hanging down. They matched his bow tie.

"Yeah, Uncle Wally?" Bart's voice was just as soft.

"You're gay, right?" Wally kept his eyes straight ahead, even when they stopped at a red light.

Bart blinked. He didn't see why Wally was asking. What had he been thinking this whole time? The whole car ride, Bart meant. He already knew about his giant crush on Jaime, and it wasn't as though he was subtle about his attraction to men, women, and anyone outside the binary.

"I mean, I knew that, you're not exactly subtle about it, but... how are you so open about it? How'd you, you know?"

Bart blinked again, mind racing, and- oh. Oh. How did Bart never know this? Was his presence really changing the timeline that much, little by little? There were little things he had noticed. Subtle differences that Bart would have paid no mind to if it wasn't for his memory.

"I never really told my family that I'm pansexual. The only one I outright told was you, actually. You were always there. More than my dad or even Grandpa. No matter the timeline." Bart took a shaky breath before shaking his head, fast. "I just kind of said stuff? But I mean, it's better in the future. More accepting, so no one cared. Or. They cared. Just, it didn't matter? Sorry, I'm bad at this stuff."

Bart brought up his knees, resting his chin on them, pouting. Yup, totally pouting.

"It's okay Bart. I get you." Wally chuckled. "Maybe I shouldn't ask a fourteen year old stuff like this."

They went back to being silent for a few minutes, listening to the radio.

"Papa will always support you." Bart mumbled into his knees, fingers tapping along to the beat of the song.

Wally hummed back, eyes still on the road.

__________________________

Since neither of his grandparents were very religious, they were marrying inside of a barn just outside city limits. The wedding would last an hour, and the reception would begin an hour after the wedding at a hotel ball room. The hotel manager hooked Papa Joe up, since they investigated a murder there a while back, apparently.

"We're going to dance were a man was killed?" Cisco had fake shivered when they had announced the reception area they settled on.

"Wha- no! The man was murdered in his hotel room, you'll be fine." Grandpa Barry had reassured his best friend.

Since Bart knew the two would marry at the barn, he wasn't surprised when Iris and Barry chose the place. The others, of course, were surprised. They had thought they would choose something more classy and their style.

Iris had retorted with "it's simple, something we don't really have in our lives anymore." Everyone agreed with that, so nothing more was said about it all.

The barn was large, painted a dull yellow that contrasted nicely against the out of season bright green grass. Bart had a quick temptation to lie in the grass and roll around in it. It looked soft. Just as swiftly as the thought came, he squashed it down. These clothes were nice, clean, and expensive.

Lisa Snart was leaning against the wall near the parking space, smoking a cigarette. She was wearing a simple gold lace dress with strappy gold heels. If she wasn't the Golden Glider (or Lisa Snart), she'd look tacky. However, of course, it suited her quite nicely.

"Hey Lise." Wally nodded over at Lisa. She grinned at him before snuffing out her cigarette under her heeled toes. Her right arm reached out to give Wally a not quite there side hug.

"Hey Kid Flash. The best man and groom made me step out since my smoke is contagious and gross," Lisa rolled her eyes, falling into step with Wally. Bart stayed a few steps behind them.

Golden Glider was something of an enigma to Bart. She would one day marry Cisco Ramon, but would never fully give up the life of a thief, no matter how many times she assisted the League on saving the world. Bart had met her a few times. She was just as beautiful in the future as now, in the past.

Lisa Snart, when Bart first met her, had short silver hair that collided with her nickname. She looked good for her age, which may have been because of her meta gene. She always wore her simple gold wedding band, along with her late husbands on a chain around her neck. She babysat Bart once when he was six. She called him "baby speedster" and "little red."

Bart thought of her when he dyed his hair.  
  
Lisa now, a younger more energetic woman from the past, had long brown hair. For the occasion she had curled it to bunch up above her shoulders. Her hand was free of any rings, but she had a few diamond studded bracelets around her wrists and even her ankle. The only necklace she wore was a gold crucifix.

"Have you seen your brother yet?" Wally asked as they walked.

Lisa gave a small, sincere smile. "Yeah, he's inside already actually. Along with other guests. Captain Singh is giving me, Lenny, and Micky some strong glares. Not like he could get me on shit. I have no record and seem legit to the pigs." She turned back, pursing her lips at Bart.

"Lenny told me that you're Allen's future grandson. That means you know what happens to all of us?" She waited for Bart to tentatively nod before asking in a low voice, "Am I happy?"

The speedster smiled immediately at her, his voice low to match hers, "Yes. Very happy."

He watched as a smile grew on the woman's face, small and sincere, happy and content. Lisa nodded, more to herself. Then, nearly as fast as Bart could move, she straighten up, breathed in, and laughed loudly. As though she hadn't bared her soul, only for a second that would seem like nothing to anyone else who didn't know her.

"Hey, look who I found outside. The brother-in-law and the kid!" Lisa yelled out as they entered the barn. Grandpa Barry and Cisco, who were standing up talking to Captain David Singh and his husband, turned their heads. Lisa wrapped her arm around Bart. "How are you related to them again?"

"Obviously he's another long lost son Lise," Captain Cold smirked, half turned in his seat. Mick Rory, who sat next to him, huffed out a chuckle.

"Oh c'mon guys, be nice. You know he's one of Iris's cousins," The Atom, Ray, turned in his seat to scold the two criminals. It was sort of cute- the faces the three made at each other like they were kids. Lisa let go of Bart and sat down on the other side of her brother.

Unsure what to do, Bart looked around. A few of his grandparents coworkers were there, along with who he assumed were college friends, some extended West family members, and the vigilantes. Oliver Queen sat next to Bart's Double Great Grandfather, Ben. The two were holding a light conversation, Queen smiling as brightly as he did in front of the camera. Gramps held a small girl, maybe three at the most, on his lap.

Bart spotted Kon-el sitting between his two aunts, looking slightly uncomfortable. Though the alien boy acted as though he was an extrovert, Bart recognized how people made him squirm. He felt the same sometimes, especially with regular, normal, non-speedster people.

The boy wore a lovely black dress that had gold flowers sewn into it. Kon was playing with the long sleeves, his eyes glued to the floor in front of him. He looked as out of place as Bart felt.

The speedster was about to walk over to him, but a hand settled onto his shoulder. He glanced up, restraining himself from speeding. Bart was never quite used to hiding his ability- he was raised around superheroes and even attended a 'homeschool' program for meta and magical children, which was ran by the JLA.

The figure in front of him was his grandfather. He was wearing a suit with maroon suspenders and a matching colored tie. It was pretty blatant; Bart could feel Singh's disapproval and acknowledgement of what Iris had let Barry and Cisco do. Iris should have never let the men choose their own colors.

"Hey, Linda just texted me. It's almost time to start. So can you take our little flower girl, Lydia, and get ready for your entrance?" Barry pointed to the little girl on Gramps Ben's lap. Bart nodded before turning to them.

Luckily, Oliver Queen was on the edge of the row, so Bart didn't feel completely uncomfortable when he walked over to Gramps Ben to retrieve the young girl. Lydia squeaked with joy when Bart told her it was 'flower time,' climbing over Oliver so Bart could pick her up and carry her to the barn's main house. On her climb over Mountain Queen, her small sandaled foot landed right on his... personal area.

Watching the Green Arrow being in pain by a child was probably the best thing Bart had seen in a while- and he saw Jaime punch a homophobe yesterday.

(Even if he was a mindless jerk afterwards. That didn't matter right now. It didn't.)

"S'rry," Lydia turned her head, her little braids and colorful beads grazing Bart's cheek as she brought her hand to her mouth to blow Oliver a kiss.

The man pretended to set it on his cheek and said, red faced, "Thanks sweetie, I'm just over- overreacting." By his side, Gramps Ben chuckled.

As Bart walked as fast as he could without speeding, Lydia complimented his hair and talked about how very excited she was for Iris to get married and for her to drop petals and she wondered how beautiful her cousin would look. Bart followed her thinking out loud perfectly.

"What's your name?" She asked, her little hands squishing into his hair.

"Bart." He smiled at her. He opened the door of the house. Right away, he saw his grandmother. Bart had seen the pictures thousands of times, at one point he even carried one around in his wallet. He had even seen the dress in real life, he and his Aunt Irey had found it in an old chest and stared at it for hours.

But this was different. This was in person, on the day. Bart had to hold in tears.

[The dress](https://www.inweddingdress.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/s/i/simple-beach-bridal-gown-BC139A.jpg) was simple, but beautiful. She wore a small silver locket necklace, that Bart knew held a picture of Barry and another when they were children. In his arms, Lydia 'oohed' and shouted out her appreciation.

"Thank you Lydia!" Iris grinned widely at them. Bart set the little girl down, who immediately ran over to Iris and softly touched her dress in revelry, obviously conscious of how she could hurt it.

Next to Iris was Linda Park, Jesse Wells, and Tracy Brand. They were all three of Iris' bridesmaids. Sitting around in the couch was Papa Joe, Harry Wells, Cisco, and Wally (who Bart hadn't noticed leave the barn, but they must have gone when he was distracted).

"You look beautiful Iris." Bart grinned, giving her his own hug. She hugged him back tightly as she whispered her thanks. "More beautiful than a photo."

Not long after, everyone got into position. First was Wally and Linda (Bart couldn't help but feel a burst of excitement to see them so close together and interacting), Cisco and Tracy, Harry and Jesse, than Bart, holding the rings on a little pillow along with little Lydia with her petal basket, and last but not least Iris and Papa Joe at the rear of the line.

The owner of the barn had agreed to help out on timing, so as they began their march over, the music began playing in the barn, awaiting the beautiful bride and her company. Bart kept Lydia from dropping the petals too early, her excitement shining through as she immediately went to throw a handful before they reached the barn. She pouted at him as she kept her hand in the basket.

Once they walked through the doors of the barn, Bart whispered to Lydia, "Drop the flowers sweet pea." The little girl cheered quietly before picking up a scoop and throwing the petals all around. The crowd chuckled at the child's antic.

Up front, Grandpa Barry was grinning, looking like a man hit by Rainbow Raider on a good day- the happiest man alive. Bart set Lydia in between Jesse and Tracy, the little girl standing on her tip toes to see behind Bart. He stood in his own line, right after Harry.

It was as though everyone held their breath as they waited for Iris to walk through. Only about a second or two passed, but it felt like forever. He resisted speeding himself to make it go faster, to make the anticipation in the air go away.

Finally, finally, Iris walked inside. She was grinning, her hands gripping her father's, who had tears running down his face. Iris untangled one of her hands to wave at Barry, who waved back, the two of them looking lovesick.

The ceremony went faster than Bart expected, but he chalked that up to his excitement. He listened intently to their vows:

"I've been in love with you since we were eleven, and even if I never knew it, I've been waiting for this day since then. You're my coconspirator, my best friend, my inspiration, the light of my life. Without you I would never have discovered my true passion. You challenge me, push me, but never smother me. When... when I thought I was going to die, you stayed by my side the whole time. You assured me every day. You're my true love, in any universe and any timeline, I have no doubt about it. So let's continue to be coconspirators, and best friends, inspiring each other to do and be the best we can be. To the very end."

When Iris spoke, she held his hands in hers, her thumb rubbing circles on his hands. She smiled, tears obviously threatening to slip. When she said 'true love,' Barry's hands lifted and cupped her cheeks, so intimate and sweet and beautiful. A tug in Bart's stomach made him want to wrap his arms around his knees and cry. He couldn't figure out why.

"I'm better at impromptu declarations of love, so I'll try my best. My love for you was always inside me, and I couldn't shake it, no matter how hopeless it seemed, how much I thought this would never happen. Then. It happened. And, and it felt like my whole world opened up and that my future was finally set and in motion and turning for the best. You always stood your stance for me, and supported me, even when everyone else thought I was crazy. You've been my anchor more times than I can even remember. And I'll always, no matter what, come running home to you. Every hour, every minute."

Iris pushed her head against his shoulder, giggling, singing along to his words. Something cold fell down Bart's cheek, and he realized, belatedly, that he was crying.

Of course he was crying! This was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his whole entire life!

When Bart stepped forward with the rings, about everyone close to Barry and Iris were emotional wrecks. They finally exchanged 'I do's' and kissed as everybody cheered and whooped and people took pictures if they weren't already filming the whole event.

_______________________

They took pictures. So much pictures. Some of Barry and Iris, and Iris and Joe, and the entire West clan, and Barry and his groomsmen, and Iris and her bridesmaids, and Team Flash, and and and. It was a lot.

Jaime was there, wearing a pink dress shirt, clean shaven and smelling like boyish cologne that simultaneously smelled nice and odd. After the ceremony, he stuck to Bart like glue, seeming uncomfortable with the mass of people. At least Bart's grandparents had opted for a smaller wedding and not a big bash with more people than necessary.

"They're super cute together." Jaime said as he watched Bart's grandparents take more pictures. "Like, they are that perfect tv couple."

Bart tilted his head and snorted. "I guess. They do have a lot of drama." Jaime snorted, his eyes scrunched closed as he tried to hold in giggles.

An arm wrapped around Bart's shoulders and a whisper in his ear, "Dude I wanna be in love like that." He glanced over at the owner of the arm- Kon. He wore large stud earrings, that got momentarily stuck in Bart's curly hair.

"Yeah, bet it's nice," Bart whispered back, keeping his eyes on Jaime, who was purposefully not looking at him or Kon. Bart kicked back the urge to play with Kon's long curly hair, or playfully kiss his cheek.

What was Jaime's issue anyways? Since yesterday he's been acting odd and it's been grinding in the back of his mind. And hundreds of thoughts filtered through his mind before Bart mentally slammed his hand down. Bart knew why, he was young, but he wasn't stupid. He noticed things. He noticed how Jaime would look at him like he was a particularly nice glass of water, he noticed how he looked at Kon with a certain level of distain. He just didn't have time to worry about it.

It didn't even matter. Not now, not. Not ever. It wasn't Bart's place to even care. He knew Jaime Reyes future, and Bart had no place in it.

______________________

"So," Jesse nearly turned all the way in her seat, her blonde hair swinging in front of her face with the movements of the car. "Who will get married next?"

Bart frowned, leaning forward a bit as he thought. "I think, uh, Lisa and Cisco maybe?"

The two speedsters in the seats shared a glance and excited little shouts. Despite their serious nature while working, Jesse and Wally were a bit of gossipers. Though it was only with each other due to Jesse not having much of a social life anymore on her own earth.

Bart shrugged, his shoulder hitting Jaime due to the compressed space with three people in the back. "I don't really know. I. I'm changing time."

"What do you mean?" Wally asked as he turned the car into the parking lot of the hotel.

The young speedster sighed and shrugged again, "Doesn't matter. Hey, ya think Grandma'll let me eat cake first?"

Wally snorted as he shifted the car into park, "I think your great grandfather would never let you get near the cake."

"I'm fast."

"He's a dad." His uncle countered, which actually stumped Bart for once. It was true. He could say, from experience, that father figures always knew. Since they always knew, they could always stop the inevitable. It was like some sort of meta power only good dads had.

Grandpa Barry was in the parking lot, looking sheepish with Leonard Snart's arm wrapped around his shoulders. Bart couldn't hear what the thief was saying, but the dramatic wave of his arm was answer enough. Just behind the two, Mick Rory, Lisa, and Grandma Iris were watching with amused faces.

"Hey Snart! You trying to recruit my brother-in-law?" Wally shouted over with a shit-eating grin as he climbed out of the car.

The man smirked before tilting his head to the side, "Of course. The kid needs a break from all the stress here. Thinking I can take him to a heist sometime or have him be the resident thief on the Wave Rider for a week or two."

Barry rolled his eyes, muttering, "I steal one thing for the sake of being good."

Leonard continued talking, guiding Barry over to Wally before wrapping his other arm around the younger speedster. "Plus, gives you a chance to rule the roost. C'mon Kid West, don't tell me you don't want to see what it's like to not be the sidekick."

Wally rolled his eyes, but acted as though he was actually thinking about the offer.

Bart walked slightly away from the small group. His eyes followed the three men, laughing, his grandmother who strutted beautifully in her dress with Lisa and Mick's arms linked in hers as they watched the men before them. Jesse saddled up next to Lisa, her smile radiating towards Wally made Bart desperately sad.

These people were the past. They were living and happy and heroes in more than one way. They were the world. Separate completely from Bart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know when you mean to get something done and then you just.... don't. While this is totally what happened. There was supposed to be more to this chapter, but I decided to cut it short and add the rest of the wedding parts into the next chapter so It'll be a mix of Bart and Hal or maybe just Bart and then have Hal's chapter after we'll see. But yeah, the summer took me over and now I started college, which should give me some time to work on more chapters and fics lol
> 
> comment, tell me your thoughts on my completely self-indulgent fic, totally give me some ideas if you have any I'd love to hear. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed <3


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